She carries herself with poise and confidence. She’s not a stereotypical 20-year-old. She comes to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall with a thirst for knowledge and a knack for networking. Her name is Lauren Poindexter and she’s a student trainee in the Public Affairs Office.
A student at Bowie State University, Poindexter is studying communications. Her life goals include working at a TV network and hosting her own show. She even wants to own her own TV network some day.
“I don’t think my job has been created yet,” said Poindexter. “I think I’m going to have to create it myself.”
Poindexter takes her school work seriously. She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and has a 3.7 cumulative grade point average. The energetic trainee enjoys spending time with her friends and Family, going to the beach and watching her favorite TV show, “One Tree Hill.”
In her few short months at JBM-HH she’s already made an impact in the office. She helped during a change of command ceremony, lent a helping hand to escort media on the base and has helped develop a communications plan for the command’s newest communication platform — Twitter.
Poindexter’s ability to stay organized and get the job done while having fun hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Lauren is much more than a student trainee,” said Mary Ann Hodges, director of JBM-HH Public Affairs. “She is a true member of the JBM-HH team. Her creative ideas and skill in social media have made her a force multiplier.”
All of her hard work and communication skills pay off in more than just a professional sense. In her spare time, she competes in beauty pageants.
“I competed in the Miss Black and Gold scholarship pageant my sophomore year,” she said. She gained the title of Alpha Phi Alpha Miss Black and Gold, Delta Nu Chapter 2010-2011 as well as Miss Black and Gold, Mid-Atlantic Association of Alpha Phi Alpha Chapters 2011-2012.
“I won at the chapter level and I advanced to district and then I won,” she said. “Then I advanced to regionals and competed in Bermuda. I didn’t win in Bermuda, but I placed third.” She said it’s ok she didn’t win because she learned a lot about how to compete and how she could still make a difference in her community.
Poindexter vowed to not enter another pageant until she graduated, but changed her mind after a little web surfing. Her next big pageant is competing in the 2013 Miss Maryland USA contest this fall. The winner of that contest goes on to represent the state in the Miss USA pageant.
She said her involvement in pageants has been eye-opening in showing her different ways to accomplish her life goals.
“It’s a really great networking opportunity,” she said. “I may want to do something and if I don’t know how to do it, I know someone who’s done it before and can help me.”
One example of her ability to tap into her network of friends and create a successful event was a car wash. She was able to get her community involved and raise $400 for Bread for the City in Washington, D.C.
Poindexter’s last day here is at the end of August and then she’ll be returning to school for her senior year. She’ll also be using the time to prepare herself for the Miss Maryland competition. Win or lose, she’s scheduled to come back after the first of the year and continue to help out around the joint base.
“When you’ve never done something before, you’re not sure if you’re going to succeed or not,” she said. “It’s easy to back down. But you never know until you try it.”
