From Building Robots to Solving Challenges: A Student’s Journey From Curiosity to a STEM-Driven Future

Verizon

At just 16 years old, Miles Davis, a high-school senior from Washington, D.C., is already charting a path towards a STEM career.

Growing up, Davis showed signs of being a strategic thinker: he was a serious chess player with an early love of technology. Davis and his brother used to build robots from kits as young kids. “I was just so curious about, ‘how does it move, how does it work?’” Davis says. “How does it know which way is left and right?”

But Davis’s enthusiasm for computer science truly blossomed after he attended Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers at Howard University in 2018 and University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in 2019, when he was a middle school student. Right away, Davis says, he was hooked by the program’s curriculum — and his first chance to wear a virtual reality (VR) headset. “I saw robots, I saw VR goggles, and I saw everyone having fun, everyone learning,” he says.

Davis had hands-on experience with emerging technologies combined with the opportunity to apply them in solving real-world problems. From developing medical wearables that transmit vital health information in emergencies, to creating practical solutions for addressing climate change, the students collaborated to tackle urgent global challenges—an experience that profoundly shaped Davis’s vision for his future. “I had never really thought about solving real-world problems,” Davis reflects. “I was focused on building robots or creating machines, but I didn’t fully grasp the bigger picture until I joined this program.”

The Howard University program, run by Dr. Kofi LeNiles, combines the tech-based, hands-on learning of the Verizon Innovative Learning program with university-specific values, with an aim of not just teaching tech, but also creating bonds between the students. “What makes this program at Howard unique is that we not only focus on the excellent STEM curriculum that Verizon provides, but we also focus on community,” LeNiles explains.

By transforming competition into teamwork, the program teaches valuable lessons. “My biggest takeaway from the Verizon Innovative Learning program was how teamwork can solve issues,” Davis explains. “We really got together and put our ideas together and… wrote it down and started brainstorming; we came up with some really good ideas.”

As a graduating high school senior, Davis is already focused on potential possibilities for his future. “My interest in STEM got me thinking about solving problems… and I feel like it really contributed to my future interest, because everything I do is about solving a problem or fulfilling a need,” he says. Davis has plenty to keep him busy: he is already an entrepreneur with his own clothing line and plans to go to college and pursue electrical contracting as a trade.

Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.

My interest in STEM got me thinking about solving problems… and I feel like it really contributed to my future interest, because everything I do is about solving a problem or fulfilling a need...

Miles Davis