The Concrete Rose Scholarship Foundation

At 11:43 a.m. on the first day of my junior year of high school, I sat in computer science(CS) with my leg bouncing beneath the desk.It was my first day back after a year and a half of remote school. One by one, students who had struggled the previous year were called into the hallway and encouraged to leave the program.My grades told me I could be next. I waited for my name. It was never called. I later learned why. I was one of only two young women in the class and the only Black young woman.My teacher did not know what I might accomplish, but he understood that removing me would take an opportunity from someone already underrepresented in the room.He left the door open, and through tutoring and persistence, I worked to prove I belonged on the other side.His decision taught me that potential does not need to be fully visible before it deserves an opportunity to grow. That opportunity also gave me the chance to reinforce why I wanted to pursue computer science. Long before I knew what CS was, I was fascinated by how things worked. As a child, I would take apart robotic toys and mechanical dolls just to examine the pieces inside. CS gave a name and direction to that curiosity.I could build, solve problems, and eventually create opportunities for others. As a high school senior, I set my sights on Howard University, where I am now a senior studying CS with a minor in sociology. I chose to pair the two because technology does not exist separately from the people it affects. Sociology has allowed me to examine biases within our social systems, while CS has shown me how those biases can be reproduced through data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. Together, they have shaped the kind of technologist I want to become. That purpose extends beyond the classroom. During my sophomore year, I created Blacktable after realizing how difficult it could be for students to find conferences, internships, and professional-development programs before their deadlines. I built the web application to connect Black undergraduates with opportunities that could otherwise slip through the cracks.I later expanded Blacktable beyond sharing information by raising $600 for the Suited for Success Scholarship and awarding two students $300 each to purchase professional attire. Through these experiences, I have realized that I want to work at the intersection of technology and people.My career goal is to enter client-facing technology, where I can translate complex tools into solutions that address real human needs and help organizations understand how technology can best serve the people using it. Long term, I want the opportunities I receive to extend beyond me. As my career grows, I hope to become a philanthropist, establish a nonprofit for underrepresented girls interested in STEM, and fund scholarships that remove financial and practical barriers from their paths.I want service to become one of the ways I measure my professional success. The $500 Concrete Rose Scholarship would help me take the next step in that journey. As I prepare for my final semester at Howard, I am working to avoid taking out additional student loans.Every dollar I receive reduces what I must borrow and eventually repay with interest, allowing me to enter my career with greater financial freedom. My teacher once kept a door open for me when my potential was not yet obvious. Since then, I have learned what can happen when someone is simply given the opportunity to grow. Through my career, Blacktable, and eventually my own nonprofit, I intend to keep that door open for others.