Freshman honored on Capitol Hill

SUNY Poly Electrical-Computer Engineering Major David Jeselson speaks at the ThanksUSA Capitol Hill Reception.

When ThanksUSA’s Pathways for Patriots scholarship and career pipeline program got underway in Washington, D.C. on March 7, it was none other than SUNY Polytechnic Institute student David Jeselson who was a guest speaker.

Jeselson, a freshman Electrical-Computer Engineering major at SUNY Poly, spoke at the March 7 event held at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

ThanksUSA provides college, technical and vocational school, and need-based scholarships for the children and spouses of U.S. Military personnel.

His father is a retired Air Force Major, serving from 1986 to 2006. His father has been an Electrical Engineer and Program Manager in Air Force Acquisition, served at the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Hanscom Air Force Base, served at the National Security Agency, The Pentagon, and the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome.

Jeselson spoke of his aspirations to be an engineer and the path he is pursuing at SUNY Poly to get there. He talked about his father’s service and how his life within a military family shaped his experiences and helped him become who he is today. The scholarship, he told those in attendance, meant a lot to him not just for its help with tuition costs, but for recognizing his academic and community service accomplishments, the service and sacrifices of his father and family, and the help it will provide to follow his dream of becoming an engineer.

SUNY Poly Electrical-Computer Engineering Major David Jeselson with Retired Admiral Michael Mullen, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A $3,000 ThankSUSA Pathways for Patriots scholarship winner, Jeselson met at the event with Larry Duncan, Lockheed Martin Vice President for Government Relations and various Congressional members, including Michael McCaul (R-TX), Sheila Jackson (D-TX), and Scott Taylor (R-VA).

“I was very excited to find out that I was awarded this scholarship from THanksUSA but I was just as thrilled when the scholarship committee members invited my family and I to an all expense paid, three-day trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the ThanksUSA Capitol Hill reception to meet with committee members, members of Congress, retired members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and industry executives,” Jeselson said. “I felt a great sense of of honor and American pride when I spoke in a large room of the Rayburn building adjacent to the Capitol in front of these esteemed leaders of our nation and I felt a great sense of accomplishment after my speech when I personally met with them, shook their hands and thanked them.”