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FIU CS graduate from Cuba lands internships at IBM, JPMorgan Chase and hopes to build a new future in tech

Krysten Brenlla
Krysten Brenlla
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By Krysten Brenlla

Seven years ago, FIU student Danay Fernandez walked into an American high school without knowing or speaking a word of English. At 16 years old coming from Cuba, a communist island with limited resources, she had no idea what to expect.

But despite her limitations, she was motivated, and she was ready to tackle anything – even if that meant walking into the wrong class during her first week of high school (not her best moment, she admitted).

Fast forward a few years later, Fernandez arrived at Florida International University with a love for mathematics, but no idea how to implement it in a future career. That all changed when she met her friends at FIU’s Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) who helped her discover a newly sparked passion for tech.

“I loved math, but I also wanted to try computer science.  I regretted it at first, though, because I almost failed Programming I at FIU,” says Fernandez. “I wanted to get into tech and programming to work on something useful and innovative for the future.”

UPE, the largest student organization for technology at FIU, offers a variety of workshops and meet-ups for students interested in tech, no matter your major. Fernandez got involved with UPE in 2019, and that’s when she found her community of friends and techies who helped her as she participated in Hackathons like Shellhacks and Hack@Campus.

It’s also the same semester she was able to land an internship with a Miami tech startup founded and led by FIU alum Jason Dettbarn. Addigy is a digital platform that allows users to manage their Mac and iOS systems online easily and securely.

From there, the opportunities came knocking. After participating in UPE’s ShellHacks, dubbed as Florida’s largest Hackathon, she landed her second internship at JPMorgan Chase as a programmer. Fernandez also landed offers at USAA, Wells Fargo, and most recently, IBM.

When asked to describe a day in the life as a Frontend Developer intern at IBM, Fernandez started with four words: every day is different.

As a Frontend Developer intern at IBM, Fernandez worked directly with the Identity Access Management team, which worked on restrictions and internal access codes. Her responsibilities ranged from fixing bugs she would find in the code to even rewriting some code when necessary.

But apart from rewriting code, Fernandez’s favorite part of her internship at IBM was the different activities they offered her and her peers. “When you’re an intern, you get to participate in so many different activities,” she said. “But my favorite was being able to participate in Radio Intern Hour, where different interns across the company’s departments spoke on air. It was a blast.”

Danay Fernandez

For those looking to break into tech, Fernandez says that startups are the way to go.

“Participating in events like the Venture Miami Tech Hiring Fair or conferences like eMerge Americas are all great ways to land your next opportunity in tech, specifically with local startups right here in Miami,” Fernandez told Refresh Miami.

She also discussed joining local organizations like UPE and TechTogether Miami, a national organization focused on decreasing the gender disparities within the Hackathon community by serving high school, college, and bootcamp students in Florida, in which she served as Director of TechTogether’s Miami Hackathon.

“Even if you’re not in tech, join tech clubs, get involved with them, and talk to them,” shared Fernandez.

“Take advantage of free resources available to you online and at school. Believe me – companies will notice you and they’ll want you.”

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