
“I’ve always liked computer science, and planned on majoring in it at Fairfield University, but after my first year I had my doubts. What I wanted to do fell apart, largely due to starting college during COVID,” Kevin Torrealba explains. Thanks to his own determination and help from Suzanne Barnett, manager of the Horizons GFA College & Career Success Program, Kevin is now back on track with his plans armed with incredible practical experience and expertise gained through his summer internship with Wilton Re.
Kevin first found out about the Horizons program through a friend of his father when he was in seventh grade. “I attended summer camp that year and the next and participated in the High School program all four years,” he recalls, adding “My mentor Mike, who was a math teacher at Fairchild Wheeler High School, helped me apply to colleges, including working on my college essay and applying for scholarships.”


“If at first you don’t succeed…”
Kevin graduated from high school in June of 2019 and started his freshman year of college in the fall, but during spring semester everything went to Zoom due to the pandemic. That was the beginning of things falling apart—but not the end of his college story, thanks to Horizons.
He took some time off, studying automotive tech at Gateway Community College and working various jobs—but soon realized working on cars wasn’t something he could see himself doing for the rest of his life. He wisely reached out to Suzanne with HGFA College & Career Success in 2022 and began meeting regularly with her again. “I had no clue that I could go back to Fairfield University,” he shares, but with her help he re-applied and was re-accepted for his sophomore year in the fall of 2023. “Suzanne knew who to reach out to about getting my scholarship back,” Kevin says. Although the process took several months (filling out forms and waiting for response emails), Suzanne kept checking in and offering support, and his scholarships were eventually reinstated.
An Amazing Opportunity…
Suzanne also suggested that he attend a Zoom spring info session with Wilton Re (a U.S. life reinsurance company in Norwalk) led by Chloe Meenan and Katelyn Marut last January as part of the Horizons College & Career Success offerings. “I was excited that they included a previous HR intern on the Zoom info session who shared what the experience was like from an intern’s perspective,” Kevin shares. A few weeks later he had his first round of interviews, and by late April they informed him that he’d been chosen for the internship program. “They accepted seven interns in all, and I was the only Horizons student,” he notes.

“I met with Susan Paternoster in IT, who connected me with Andrew Viola and Carlos Aguilar, both software engineers. They curated a project for me to work on designing a software application for their company that would connect to their database,” Kevin continues. “It involved an SSIS-ETL file validation process leveraged for them that organizes all of the information into one central location, summarizes the file metrics, and stores it in their database to design a data quality dashboard.”
Per its website, Wilton Re’s Norwalk-based summer internship program is designed to be “fast-paced, and an exciting opportunity to gain professional experience within your field of study or career interest.” Interns are part of an accelerated learning experience that allows them to “challenge skills learned in the classroom and develop new skills while working on active Wilton Re projects.” In addition to meaningful work with competitive pay and assigned mentors, the internship includes community service opportunities, networking with senior leaders, and professional development sessions.

“I definitely learned a lot over the summer,” Kevin acknowledges. “There wasn’t any busy work.” His first step was documenting what he believed the program was going to do, and he wasn’t allowed to begin writing code until he fully understood the assignment. Among the many skills gained, he cites learning C# (for writing code) and SQL (a querying language), MS Visual Studio, sequential programming, and all the related lingo, concepts, and technology.
“Carlos Aguilar was my tech mentor for coding, and Andrew Viola oversaw the business aspects of working in the computer science field—including understanding clients’ needs and designing and presenting the project. They really helped me develop competence,” Kevin acknowledges.
“Kevin was truly a ‘bright light’ in our summer internship program and a great addition to our team,” Susan Paternoster (SVP/Chief Information Officer) raves. “His enthusiasm and willingness to ask questions and tackle tough projects showed he has a real aptitude for what it takes to be successful as a programmer. We could not have been prouder of Kevin and what he accomplished over the course of the summer while at Wilton Re!”

Staying focused at work and school…
Kevin returned to Fairfield University this fall and is engaged in ongoing class projects for his major that use all of those new skills. He lives at home (a 15-minute commute to campus) and works at Colony Grill in Norwalk 15-20 hours a week in addition to his college coursework. It’s challenging at times, but he’s worked in the restaurant industry for a while, so there’s nothing he isn’t comfortable doing. “It’s all about time management,” he points out, crediting the Horizons program for teaching him how to keep a calendar and stay organized with all of his assignments and due dates.
“My internship definitely gave me the confidence boost that I could do this as a career,” says Kevin, who was recently invited by Katelyn Marut to return this summer (he will also be the intern joining Wilton Re’s Zoom info session with Horizons this month). Among the many things he appreciated about the experience, Kevin highlights the small company size and feeling, which provided an atmosphere where everyone was willing to teach. “When you met someone (including executives), you knew you would see them again,” he explains. Working in that environment also gave him plenty of opportunities for conversations about working in computer science (an invaluable part of the college internship experience).
Despite all he does, Kevin still finds time to hang out with his Central High School friends, who are like brothers to him. “And I still like cars and read a lot,” he adds. One of his friends, a software engineer at Travelers Insurance in Hartford, recently got him involved in a side project as well.
Kevin’s advice for other Horizons students? “No matter how hard things seem, always stick with it,” he says, adding, “My drive and motivation was even greater when I returned to college.” Tying this lesson back to Horizons, he recalls seventh grade swimming lessons at the Westport YMCA. “I didn’t really know how to swim, but by the end of that summer I passed the swimming test, and my eighth grade year I was able to row in 2-, 4-, and 8-person boats when we took rowing lessons.”
His other advice? “Stay involved in Horizons. Suzanne is always planning things and giving feedback. Take advantage of every opportunity!”