It's no secret how much technology can grow to our benefit. Its growth can be contributed to several different positions within the computer science field, and as the tech continues to get more and more powerful and advanced, many today are pursuing a degree in this field to help the tech grow. I am one of these individuals who want to pursue a degree in computer science. But how did I get to this point of interest? As it turns out, my interest started with something a lot simpler than you may imagine; it started through a love of video games and an interest to learn and perform the development process. Once I started to learn how to code through some courses that I took such as some of my dual enrollment classes or some free online courses, my interest in pursuing this degree had grown as I found that coding was a really interesting and fulfilling activity, leaving me satisfied whenever my code works as intended. Most people who want to pursue a degree have some sort of goal in mind, especially with a field as expansive and requested as the computer science field. As for me, my ultimate goal after receiving my degree is to be either a game developer or a software engineer. Both of these relate heavily to the original reason I was interested in this degree in the first place. I did initially want to take it so then I could make video games, and then hopefully be able to get some of my friends together to build our own independent developer game company. However, as I took some of the aforementioned courses, it expanded my possible career options into wanting to deal with software as a whole, as even that was interesting enough for me to code to work. I want to achieve this particular goal because I once had a teacher deterring me from pursuing this career, saying that there's way too much competition to where it's hopeless for me. I want to be able to prove that teacher wrong by having a career in this ever-growing field, especially in something I particularly enjoy. There are many reasons that I feel that I'm the best candidate for receiving the Chris Jackson Scholarship, mainly due to the qualities of Chris Jackson that I share as well. I am a dedicated worker, always putting my best foot forward in the work that I do, whether in school or secular, and I'm always looking for an opportunity to expand my knowledge. I spend time with friends, at work, and in religious services wanting to help people, and that desire to help others can transfer to my software as well. In addition, my dual enrollment classes through DeVry University's Programming Essentials Certificate program have already given me some well-needed experience in this field, giving me an advantage. I know that this scholarship will help me to make my mark on the world.

My name is Bralon Burgess, a high school senior that lives in Riverdale, GA who is looking to pursue a degree in Computer Science or a related degree. Currently, my GPA is sitting at an exemplary 4.345. I've participated in a Dual Enrollment program with DeVry University that focused on the Programming Essentials in Python, Linux, and other programs to create several different solutions to several different scenarios. I've participated in the IEEEXtreme 16.0 competition for the DeVry University Southern California Team on October 22, 2022, and personally did my best towards the competition, despite the team not doing the best during the competition. I currently am learning more about the Python programming language, and I desire to continue to learn all sorts of different languages. I've always been into technology, especially with video games. Since I was in about 8th grade, I thought of it to be really cool if I were to create my own experiences to express my creativity to others in a medium that I personally enjoy. As I grew up and thought about it more, I wanted to branch that idea out into software development as a whole. Since that 8th grade decision, I took it upon myself to want to take any sort of courses in school focused on Computer Programming, and sometimes taking a few free online lessons on certain programming languages, as I knew that learning these would be the most important skill for these careers. The main reason on why I want to try and focus on this career path is so then I can be able to put a lot of my creative ideas to the test while also putting real world applications to several different scenarios and issues around the world. I feel that anyone, no matter the career field, is capable to make a positive impact on the world. I feel that with my creativity, growing knowledge, and determined, persistent spirit, I am able to leave a positive impact on the world with the solutions that I'm able to bring with my software, whether it provides utility, entertainment, or awareness to other situations. The people within our world constantly change and grow, so audiences and demographics tend to be different. But I believe that I can find creative solutions to appeal to most demographics to provide awareness to several communities, as well as providing some unique and sometimes entertaining experiences for others to be able to enjoy. Even being able to just do that would be enough for me to make a positive impact on the world using a STEM career.