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SPEAKER: Imagine this as a typical college student's
daily schedule.
At 10:00 AM, explore the impact of cyber security on society
with a real cyber security engineer.
Later, take a tour of the Google X offices,
then head home to work on a machine intelligence group
project.
Sound out of the ordinary?
For the students participating in Google's Tech Exchange
program, this is a daily reality.
JONATHAN MCKINLEY: I believe Tech Exchange is preparing me
for a future in computer science by just introducing me
to very rigorous courses.
A lot of the courses are taught by different university
professors, but they're also taught by Googlers.
And these Googlers are really pushing us to really go
to the next level with things.
MAYA NICHOLS: A word to describe Google's Tech Exchange
would have to be "timeless."
The people that I've met, the experience that I've had
will live with me forever.
And I will carry this on past Howard, past everything.
SPEAKER: Each year, the Google Tech Exchange program
brings college students from historically black colleges
and Hispanic-serving institutions to Google's
Mountain View campus and engages them
in a variety of applied computer science
courses, all co-taught by HBCU, HSI
faculty, and Google engineers.
FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ: Basically, we
were learning how stuff works at Google.
It's a higher learning curve than what you think.
KAY SWEEBE: The hardest thing during Tech Exchange
is each of those projects has its own management you
have to go through.
And that organization was definitely
the most challenging part.
JONATHAN MCKINLEY: Fundamentals of Algorithms and Operating
Systems, those two courses alone have just really pushed me
to the next level of just knowing things, how they worked
on a very low level, just applying them in just
different real world context.
SPEAKER: Each of these cities and schools
that the students hail from aren't just
your everyday campuses.
HBCUs and HSIs have long been hubs for educating
the best and brightest students of color.
KAY SWEEBE: Well, I love attending an HSI
because here in New Mexico especially,
we have a great culture.
And it's very reflective of Hispanic communities
in general.
MAYA NICHOLS: Howard University is
filled with a lot of laughter, a lot of joy.
Going to Howard University was one of the best decisions
I've ever made.
SPEAKER: Selected to be here because of their talent
and ability to handle the workload,
students had little time between classes, labs,
and exploring the surrounding Bay Area to even realize
their moment in history.
But as these students approach graduation,
they're already thinking about their career path in the tech
field or taking their steps into entrepreneurship.
FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ: I was pretty excited
as well because going through Google,
it sounds like a dream which became a reality.
And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
JONATHAN MCKINLEY: Coming from Jacksonville to Mountain View
is just like shocked me completely.
It's just mind-blown me.
It's definitely a culture shock.
Mountain View's way different than being
back on the East Coast.
KAY SWEEBE: For me personally to see so much diversity as well
so much drive towards wanting to be a part of the tech
community, it was really nice.
MAYA NICHOLS: To be here on Google's campuses
with other HSI students and other HBCU students I think
is very humbling.
You get to hear everybody else's background
and just hear where everybody else has come from.
And I think that's very inspiring.
JONATHAN MCKINLEY: My one word for the Google Tech Exchange
program would be "inspirational."
KAY SWEEBE: It helps bring about new ways
of learning that also closed the gap between education
and industry.
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