Holland Henderson-Boyer’s first introduction to The University of Alabama came during a big high school road trip through the South. Traveling from Maryland, she was initially drawn to Southern universities because of scholarship opportunities, but Alabama quickly set itself apart.
From the beginning, she knew she wanted to be involved in research as early as possible, and one program stuck out. The Randall Research Scholars Program pairs exceptional students like Henderson-Boyer with leading faculty and technology to pursue scholarly research projects.
“I couldn’t find any other similar program at basically any other school I looked at. I was really excited to get to do meaningful undergraduate research, especially earlier in my college career, because some of the other schools I was considering even flat out told me I wouldn’t be able to do meaningful research until junior year,” Henderson-Boyer said.
During her initial campus visit, Henderson-Boyer met Dr. Jeff Gray, director of the program. He quickly recognized her potential and has supported her academic journey ever since. In Gray’s 25-year career as a professor, he ranks Henderson-Boyer among the top 1% of undergraduate students with potential as a future tech innovator.
“Holland has gone well beyond my expectations in terms of her ability to adapt to new situations and make contributions in a broad range of academic areas. She began her research program with many AP credits, which allowed her to develop research maturity that is uncommon in freshman students,” Gray said. “In addition to an impressive academic record, she has also initiated campus community and other projects that serve others.”
Since choosing UA, Henderson-Boyer has remained deeply committed to her passion for innovative research, academic excellence and leadership. Her current research project “Predicting and Counteracting Climate-Induced Stress: A Novel Machine Learning Method,” examines how weather volatility in temperature can lead to increased incidence of stress in under-resourced communities.
But her engagement on campus extends well beyond the research lab.
Throughout her undergraduate years, Henderson-Boyer has been an active member of the Honors College, served on the software sub team for Alabama Astrobotics, and held the role of president of Women in Cyber Security at Alabama. She is also a proud member of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional engineering sorority, and The Thirty-One, a prestigious female honor society. Together, these experiences demonstrate her diverse impact on various areas of campus.
Henderson-Boyer is graduating from the Capstone with a double major in mathematics and computer science, a path she chose for the natural parallels between the two disciplines in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence.
“There’s a lot of overlap between computer science and math. I really love connecting different fields that have interesting ways that they’re interrelated,” Henderson-Boyer said.
That connection is reflected in the internships Henderson-Boyer completed throughout her undergraduate career. With strong support from University staff, meaningful relationships with alumni and a continued drive to pursue impactful work early, she gained exposure to real-world experience at leading technology companies.
Her first internship as a software development intern at Amazon stands out, particularly because she went through the interview process during September of her freshman year. The experience challenged her to learn a wide range of skills in a short amount of time.
“I think that’s one of my favorite things about being in computer science…you really never stop learning new things, and you’re constantly figuring out how to use tools that you might not have ever seen before,” Henderson-Boyer said.
In the summers that followed, she served as a STEP intern at Google and later as a software engineer intern at Netflix. She highlights that Netflix’s culture and leadership principles resonated with her most.
“I felt really integrated into the team. I got to do all of the meetings with the team as if I was there full time,” Henderson-Boyer said.
Following graduation, Henderson-Boyer is looking forward to making a return to Netflix as a software engineer. She is eager to continue to solve problems and learn new tools with a team she worked so well with.
“I also am just excited about the scale and the complexity of the problems to solve at Netflix,” Henderson-Boyer said.
Reflecting on these early experiences that helped shape her path, Henderson-Boyer acknowledges her professors, coursework and University resources such as the Career Center, that prepared her for success beyond graduation.
While internships and professional success can often be tied to technical skills, Henderson-Boyer said that some of the biggest areas she has grown in during her four years occurred outside of the classroom.
By leaning into different social and networking events Henderson-Boyer has observed a significant change in her social skills from high school that will continue to serve her beyond graduation.
She encourages students who may not feel comfortable in social situations to still put themselves out there, attend University Programs events and take advantage of the chance to connect with others.
“Generally, success isn’t just dependent on the technical skills you have, it’s also can you work well with other people? And do people enjoy working with you? How do you make people feel when you interact with them? I definitely feel like UA has been a great place for me to grow those skills, and I’m really glad that I got to have a holistic college experience that both had rigorous academics and all these other opportunities to grow that you can’t get from just like studying in the library all the time.”
If Henderson-Boyer could leave students, especially those in computer science, with one piece of advice, it would be that it is never too early to start applying for opportunities. While she acknowledges the chances may be higher for upperclassmen to secure competitive internships, she emphasizes that underclassmen should not doubt their ability to genuinely create value for a company early on.
“There can sometimes be the misconception that you can’t get internships as a freshman…You can have a pretty basic level of knowledge and still be able to create significant value,” Henderson-Boyer said.
Her lasting advice reflects the same determination that brought her to UA in the first place, a strong motivation to make an impact early on. As she puts it, “Go ahead and apply. What’s the worst thing that can happen?”