December 11, 2022
After a nontraditional college experience, engineering graduate Josh Ward is ready to tackle a career opportunity with Amazon.
National Guard veteran and soon-to-be University of Missouri computer science graduate Josh Ward didn鈥檛 need to spend his final semester looking for a job. After participating in internships, student organizations and undergraduate research at Mizzou, Ward received an offer to work at one of the biggest companies in the world: Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Ward will work alongside other software engineers on AWS cloud file system implementations. The job will be a continuation of his most recent internship, and Ward said he鈥檚 excited to rejoin the project.
鈥淚 worked hard this summer to leave a good impression, and they ended up extending the job offer at the end of the internship,鈥 Ward said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy with the outcome. It鈥檚 a relief to have the job lined up, and Amazon is a good company to work for.鈥
The AWS internship came to Ward after a recruiter looking for veterans studying computer science reached out on Handshake, MU鈥檚 employment website. Ward said the opportunity reaffirmed his interest in programming and allowed him to put to work some of the things he learned at Mizzou.
鈥淢U鈥檚 programming classes, specifically the object-oriented programming class, were helpful since my internship was in Java,鈥 he said. 鈥淕enerally, my engineering classes helped prepare me and provided skills I used on the job.鈥
But it wasn鈥檛 just his classes that prepared him for the job with AWS, it was the full Mizzou engineering experience.
Getting the most out of Mizzou
Ward grew up in St. Charles, Missouri. After high school, he enrolled in the Army National Guard 鈥 like many of his family members before him. After spending five months in basic training and advanced individual training, Ward refocused his efforts on his education. He enrolled at Mizzou in fall 2017 and began pursuing a computer science degree.
鈥淭he Missouri Army National Guard鈥檚 benefits allowed me to attend Mizzou and be able to focus on my coursework,鈥 Ward said. 鈥淧rofessors here were understanding of obligations that arose, and my leadership was understanding of academic commitments.鈥
After arriving in Columbia, Ward quickly looked for ways to build new connections with his classmates. That search led him to explore engineering student organizations, and he joined the Mizzou Computing Association.
鈥淵ou meet a lot of really cool people through student orgs,鈥 Ward said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty easy to say, 鈥極h, I don鈥檛 have time, I have homework,鈥 but at the end of the day, if you can make time for student orgs it pays off.鈥
After taking a brief break from classes for a deployment overseas, Ward returned to Mizzou and got involved in Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines. He served for as secretary, then vice president for Mizzou’s UPE chapter.
Ward also began an with Associate Professional Practice Professor Gillian Maurer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e answering the question, 鈥榃hat do people perceive when they look at images?鈥欌 Ward said.
And answering questions is something that made Ward stand out in class to Michael Jurczyk, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and the faculty advisor of UPE.
鈥淛osh is an exemplary team leader in Upsilon Pi Epsilon,鈥 Jurczyk said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a hardworking student, very intelligent and persistent. And he was one of the few who were always willing to answer questions I asked in class 鈥 and answered correctly.鈥
Going forth
Although his college career was not always linear, Ward is ready for the next chapter. He said he鈥檚 excited for him and his wife to move to Atlanta and to take the lessons he鈥檚 learned at Mizzou with him as he supports one of the world鈥檚 largest retailers.
鈥淕etting to work for Amazon, and grow through the company, is going to be an amazing experience,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to miss Missouri. Our families are here, and Mizzou holds a lot of memories, so we plan to visit frequently. But we鈥檙e also looking forward to the future.鈥
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 change my Mizzou experience for anything,鈥 Ward said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a really good time and I鈥檓 super excited about what comes next.鈥
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