My name is Izaveon (Eye-Zay-V-On) Stringer and I am going to school to become a computer engineer. During my childhood, I was raised by my grandma in rural North Carolina where she always instilled in me the importance of an education. She, like many people in my family and even the area, never fully got to accomplish their dreams due to living during the Jim Crow era, teen pregnancies, addictions, dysfunctional families, and just an overwhelming amount of trauma. I myself am the product of teen parents that were not able to grow and overcome their unresolved traumas. In my early teens I wanted to find ways to elevate myself so I would not be subjected to these generational curses, and make sure that they end with me so I do not pass it on to my future family and the next generation after them. This did not come easy though because my first attempt was to be the very antithesis of every "bad" person in my family. What I soon came to realize is that is not how breaking curses and being a better overall person works because one, eventually you'll show those tendencies that you did not think you had because your environment shapes you both unconsciously and consciously, and two, just being the opposite of somebody that is "bad" is not enough to make a significant change. So in high school I explored a lot regarding philosophies, what I wanted to do when I graduated, and what impact I wanted to leave for my family and future family. They all delved into upward mobility and self-determination, and the conclusion I came up with was Computer engineering. The reason it was computer engineering is because at the time, and still in the present day, was a lucrative career choice that provided stability and the ability to provide for a future family and help others in my family trying to better themselves as well. After I graduated High school in 2021, I enrolled at Howard University, if you are unaware of what happened that year it was a lot. My younger self was woefully unprepared and subsequently dropped out due to circumstances. After I did drop out, I never felt so much disappointment or hatred for myself because even though they never said it, I was supposed to be the "chosen one" of the family, the one that ended the trauma, the one that created opportunity for the forgotten in the world. During that time I was on a roll with self-sabotage and just being apathetic towards my own future, in other words just existing with no purpose, I became the very thing I wanted to be nothing like. But I am forever thankful towards my grandma and other elders in my family as they caught on and talked some sense in my head about the path I was going towards and what my original goals were. So after a year of messing up my own life I got back on track and I am currently going to Montgomery College in Maryland majoring in Computer engineering, so I can to transfer to a four year and major in the same thing. I resolved some things and established boundaries with some family members but it is a work in progress. I always heard the phrase "It's not where you start but how you finish", but I never realized how applicable it has been to my life. Ultimately I want to elevate myself so I can help ensure my family is good and help others to elevate themselves.

My name is Izaveon (EYE-ZAY-V-ON) Stringer, I'm from Salisbury, North Carolina and I currently attend Howard University. All my life I enjoyed learning, not just in school/academia, but the world around me as well. Throughout school I excelled in all subjects, but I never gravitated toward a particular one like how I saw most people did early on in life. When I first entered High school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I did not have a career choice in mind until my junior year. I forgot the exact day, but in January of 2020, I was bored scrolling through youtube videos and I came across one titled "Learn Python in 1 hour" and I clicked on it to see what it was about. The instructor's name was Mosh and he made learning how to code seem simple and fun to learn. Eventually I used an old laptop to practice python on and I had fun when I knew what I was doing. Later in the year when Covid 19 became a pandemic, I had more time to reflect what I wanted to do with my life and which career path in computer science I wanted to take. Now I am going to college to be a cyber security engineer so I can protect mine and other peoples privacy and peace of mind.

My name is Izaveon (EYE-ZAY-V-ON) Stringer, I'm from Salisbury, North Carolina and I currently attend Howard University. I am going to college to be a cyber security engineer so I can protect mine and other peoples privacy and peace of mind. I became interested in the broader field of computer science because I like solving complex problems and it's going to be the a large part of the future so it is a good skill to have. As far as making an impact I want to encourage more Black students to enter the STEM field because it is overwhelming White, and I know there are incredibly talented and smart young kids that are capable of changing the future, they just don't have the support or financial means. When I graduate I plan to mentor the black youth and create support programs to help them financially get to where they need to be and help innovate and create something amazing for a brighter future.

I have always had a passion for learning whether it had something to do with academia, life tips or "street smarts", or just simply random facts about a topic. Growing up as a kid all the way through high school, math and science always interested me simply because they would almost always give a definitive answer. You see, I like solutions to issues, and although I love history and reading, one thing I hated most was the abstract concepts and having multiple interpretations of a correct answer. Once I entered high school I noticed a shift in demographics. I went to a predominately White school, but it seemed in the standard classes it was almost all filled with people of color. Although I didn't face blatant racism or anybody questioning my intelligence (due to having one of the best averages in all my AP and honors courses) it felt as though I had to act a certain way because I felt as though I represented my race. Believe me I tried to get the Black students and even the Latinx students to enroll in AP courses, but I was only able to persuade a few to come with me. One thing that I do know that is dissuading Black students from participating in STEM is they have a lack of support economically and socially. I myself used to be told that I "talked white" for having a broad vocabulary and would never be on the same level as white people as they are the majority in stem careers. Now that I am an undergrad at Howard university, I want to find ways to not only help me in my future endeavors with Computer Science, I also want to persuade Black people and other minorities to join the field because so far it has been a great experience for me and I feel as though if the younger generation had support they would love the world of STEM as well.