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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Koby Posey, a 2018 Jemison High School graduate, is getting paid job experience in his chosen field while completing his bachelor’s degree through The University of Alabama’s Cooperative Education Program.

As a part of the program, Posey is out of the classroom this semester and working for Alabama Power. His first day on the job was Aug. 8. He tests and inspects relays at the substation to make sure everything is connected correctly. Each day starts with a safety meeting to review things that could be improved on and to keep safety as a focus.

Posey said a classmate, who had participated in the program, encouraged him to be a part. At a career day for internships, Posey was able to talk to a representative from Alabama Power who further encouraged Posey to join the coop program.

“I have always been interested in electronics and engineering in general,” Posey said.

He spent summers in high school working with his father in construction and met some of the Alabama Power engineers that would be a part of the project. He remembers “how safely they always did everything and how reliable they always were.”

“That is what kind of drew me to Alabama Power … and I was interested in making a career there,” Posey said.

He is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

“A lot of the concepts that I was taught in school I see on a daily basis,” Posey said. “I use power calculations at work, which I learned from my physics classes.”

Prior to University of Alabama, Posey completed a degree in industrial electronics at Shelton State Community College. He said this is where he learned how to read prints, something he does on a daily basis now at Alabama Power.

Posey is a junior and will return to class next semester before returning to work at Alabama Power next summer.

He said he will have one more semester to finish his degree after that and hopes a full-time position will be available with Alabama Power after he graduates.

Posey is one of 195 University of Alabama students that are a part of the Cooperative Education Program working for various employers this semester.