Jackson State graduating business marketing major joins Amazon Web Services
(JACKSON, Miss.) — Meet Fredrick Haywood, Jr., a 22-year old business marketing major from Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
Haywood recently accepted a marketing specialist position for Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Seattle, Washington. AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and application programming interface (API) to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered pay-as-you-go basis.
“I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, and I would like to sincerely thank God and everyone who supported me throughout my academic journey.”
Haywood beamed with pride as he talked about his top reason for choosing to work at Amazon. “I wanted to work in a corporate environment, and Amazon is number five among Fortune 500 companies. So, that really sparked my interest.”
Before securing his new employment, the business marketing major interned with the company as an Amazon Prime student campus manager and absolutely loved his experience.
“I was able to chat with a lot of people from Amazon with similar interests; they introduced me to more people, and those people introduced me to other people who found enough interest in me to conduct an interview. And, the rest is history.”
When asked what he anticipates the most as it relates to his new career, Haywood explained, “I want to learn as much as I can, so I can become an industry expert. Once I obtain the knowledge and skills of this position, I want to pour my wisdom into others, specifically students at Jackson State.”
He continued, “Jackson State has taught me so much since I transferred from McNeese State in 2018.”
Haywood initially attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on a full basketball scholarship, but after his grade-point average began to fall, he knew he had to make a drastic change. So, he did. His decision to change resulted in him not only transferring to JSU, but quitting basketball entirely.
“I knew I wouldn’t be playing basketball for the rest of my life. So, I wanted to do something I was passionate about, and that led to me focusing on being better academically.”
While at McNeese State, Haywood noticed that a lot of his peers attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as JSU were excelling academically and securing excellent employment opportunities. “I knew I wanted to do the same thing. I also knew that there were exceptional opportunities for students at JSU, and that was the biggest reason I ended up choosing Jackson State.”
When asked about his life’s motto, Haywood says, “The Bible scripture Romans 8:28 reminds me that regardless of how I look or feel in my current situation, it is going to work out for my good and according to God’s plan.”
He concluded by reciting this scripture, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”