From Quiet Curiosity to Center Stage

I got offered an internship on my own!

Ari didn’t say it to show off. She said it with disbelief, pride, and just a little awe — as if she couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.

Ari is an 11th grader in our Power Hour program. She’s one of the quieter girls in the room. This year, she’s faced challenges in school and often struggled to find motivation. But all it took was one moment — one spark — to start rewriting her story.

That moment came at WICT’s annual Tech It Out conference, hosted at Telemundo. Ari, freshly dressed in professional attire sponsored by WICT (a gift that lifted her confidence before the day even began), recalled something deeply personal: her grandfather had worked at Telemundo.

That connection opened something up in her. Surrounded by powerful women in tech and media, Ari began asking questions. She spoke with executives. She shared her interest in the control room and the world behind the camera. Her curiosity led to something big: the VP of Telecommunications invited her to return to Telemundo for a Shadow Day.

And she did.

During that day, Ari didn’t just walk through a studio — she walked through her future. She toured the control room, met producers and engineers, connected with the executive team at Telemundo and NBCUniversal, and even got a behind-the-scenes peek at the kind of projects she once only dreamed of—like the Olympics.

That single experience changed her mindset. Ari decided she’s going to pursue a career in telecommunications. Since then, she’s opened up more, spoken with confidence, and walks with a new kind of pride — not loud, but certain.

This is what Power Hour is designed to do:
Take a spark of curiosity, and turn it into a fire.

Ari didn’t just see her future.
She claimed it.