Stevenson Volny, Business Analytics Major, is a recipient of the UT Working Student Assistant Award.
Two years after the massive earthquake in Haiti, Stevenson Volny and three of his siblings left their home in Port-Au-Prince, where schools had not yet reopened, to join their father, Edva Volny, who had been working as a certified nursing assistant in Knoxville for a number of years. “It was hard to leave family and friends behind,” says Volny, who was 15 at the time. “But it was a good thing to be able to continue my studies.”
Speaking only French and Haitian Creole, he started as a freshman at West High School, took English as a Second Language classes, and used online lessons and West High’s library to ease his transition. He also played center midfielder and striker on West’s soccer team.
After high school he went to Pellissippi State Community College on the Tennessee Promise Scholarship, tackling courses in calculus, chemistry, and engineering. His English class comprised international students and included many helpful conversational practice sessions. “The professor would put us in groups and start us talking,” Volny says, “and he would hear the mistakes we were making.”
I’m grateful for the donations that support my academic tuition here at UT, it’s a great way to help international students in the work–study sector.
– Stevenson Volny, recipient of the UT Working Student Assistant Award
With his associate’s degree in business in hand, Volny started at UT in January. “I like working with data,” he says. “Data is a valuable asset in being able to predict that something will happen.” He has especially enjoyed Professor Missy Morris’s class in statistics and business analytics and Lecturer Sara Williamson’s course in management. “It’s challenging,” he says. “I’m just trying to go to class and learn as much as possible.” He hopes to work in the data sector of a large company like PepsiCo or FedEx.
On the weekends Volny works at RHA Health Services with young adults with disabilities like autism. “I like to help people,” he says, “and I take joy in trying to support them and make their lives easier, anyway that I can.”
During the week, Volny has a work-study position as an office assistant in the financial aid office. “I’m grateful for the donations that support my academic tuition here at UT,” says Volny. “It’s a great way to help international students in the work–study sector.”
