Fayetteville Technical Community College and Carolina Cyber Network held a ceremonial signing Monday, Nov. 3, for students who have been selected for internships with the NC Department of Information Technology.

FTCC students Samuel Abling, Jacob Wright and Megan Harris began their internships with NCDIT at the end of October.

Abling and Wright, who are both in their second year of FTCC’s Systems Security and Analysis program, put pen to paper Monday to celebrate their achievement. Harris is an alumna of the same program.

“We know you’re going to make us proud because we know you put in the work, you put in the effort and you’re prepared to go up there and do a great job,” FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells said in a press release.

The FTCC trio made up one-third of the first cohort of interns through a new partnership between NCDIT and Carolina Cyber Network. The initiative, which creates a pipeline of interns educated at institutions in CCN’s 23-member collaborative, is designed to strengthen the state’s cybersecurity landscape and provide valuable experience to emerging talent in the workforce.

The interns each work up to 25 hours per week remotely for the state agency for one year. That experience could lead to securing an apprenticeship with the NCDIT.