My name is Jerry Noel. I immigrated from Haiti at the age of 4. I became fascinated with tech at an early age through the video games and consoles I used to play. However, my love for STEM came when I turned 15. It all happened the summer after graduating middle school when, like many engineers, I began questioning the existence of the things around me. I started asking myself "why" and "how" certain things in the tech world came to be. Specifically speaking, I asked myself how something like Facebook came to be. It made no sense to me how a website just happens to be here where so many people can simply go on and catch up with their friends and family. It was pretty scary when I thought about it at first because I knew it was not magic, but I did not know how it got here. Like the curious teen I always was, I decided to do some research and was led to computer science. I learned that Facebook was built with code, specifically with HTML, CSS, and PHP. I decided to dig deeper and learn what all of this meant and how I could someday use it to build the websites and programs that I wanted to build. Following was endless weeks of learning how to code on Codecademy, YouTube, and with the help of every programmer's best friend, Stack Overflow. Soon enough, I was building websites and small programs that would calculate someone's yearly interest on a given investment. I learned a lot about myself that summer in 2015. I not only learned what I was passionate about, but I learned that I love to go out of my way to educate myself, even when I was not in a classroom. In fact, a few weeks after I got on Codecademy, I learned that I much prefer to learn things on my own, which is not always easy to do, but when it comes to coding, there is a community so large that is willing to help and share their knowledge that you can never run out of things to teach yourself. Now, I am a junior at Pennsylvania State University pursuing a degree in Computer Science. I want to use everything that I have learned, both inside and outside the classroom, to continue building, except this time, bigger and better. I want to build websites, apps, programs, and tools that people all over the world can use. But it cannot stop there. There will be others like me, growing up wondering and questioning just like how I did. The world definitely needs more diversity in STEM, so I also want to share my knowledge and experiences (though, with everyone) with the hopes that future underrepresented young boys and girls can look up to someone who looks like them.

Growing up, and like most people, I was always bombarded with the expectation that I would someday become either a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Though it seems that this will conclude with me explaining how I found my passion in something completely different, I must say that I did end up pursuing the engineering route. Specifically, I decided to pursue Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Penn State University. Although many people do not know or find their passion this early on, I found and begin pursuing computer science during the summer of 2015, the summer before high school. I found this passion after asking myself, "how was Facebook created?" It was right there—while sitting on my bed thinking how I would spend the summer before transitioning into high school—that the question arose. After conducting research on the company, I finally came to realize that Facebook, as well as websites and apps in general, were all made with code. In my research, I was led to the computer science track and started self-teaching myself computer science and how to code. Ever since I found my passion in summer 2015, I would spend every summer and school year learning to code and building new things. However, what I am most proud of and am currently building, maintaining, and promoting is my recent application called TrendyMovies. TrendyMovies is an app that connects users to the latest top trending movies and shows. I began building TrendyMovies during the summer of 2021. I built it within a week using the programming language JavaScript and launched the app within a month. However, I must admit and believe that this is an important part to highlight, I was rejected by both Apple and Google before finally being approved. In fact, I was rejected three times by Apple and once by Google. During an interview I had about the app with The Bullhorn, a student-run newspaper in Philadelphia, I highlighted this because it was really important to me to convey the process of building and getting an app published. Like most companies and businesses, capital is such a crucial aspect when trying to scale. With the AMPLIFY Black Entrepreneurs Scholarship funds, I would grow TrendyMovies in two ways. First, I would run targeted ads to those that are interested in movies and shows using 75% of the funds. Second, I would use the remaining $125 to run more promotions, except this time it would be within my school, where over 100,000+ students attend throughout all the commonwealth campuses. By seeing an app built by their fellow peer, more students would want to download and check the app out. Although many people would not spend most of their capital on advertisements, I would be able to do so because the cost of scaling TrendyMovies is low. There are no workers besides me and there are no costs associated with having the app up and running (except for the yearly fee of having the app in the stores). The only thing left to do is to acquire more users, which would just be my customer acquisition cost. In the future, I plan on doing a few things with TrendyMovies. First, I plan on turning it into a tool for finding what is trending in various topics. The topics would include but are not limited to, what is trending in the entertainment industry, food industry, news, 50 states, tech companies, schools, and many more. The idea is that if it is on the app, it is currently trending. Finally, I would take the company public.

As a hobbyist in filmmaking, I have seen countless amounts of movies and have even created, directed, edited, and produced my very own films and videos. I love to watch various genres such as, but not limited to, Action, Drama, Horror, Comedy, and Romantic. However, of all the movies that I have seen, my favorite movie by far is The Social Network. The movie depicts the upbringing of Facebook and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook is the reason why I found my passion for computer science. Therefore, when I heard about The Social Network, I knew I had to see it. When I did, everything that I had read about Facebook online as part of my research on "how Facebook was created" and its CEO was depicted in the movie. To many, the movie is just about a kid who founded a company in his Harvard dorm room. But to me, it means so much more. I immigrated to the United States when I was just 3 years old. Like most families, we came for a better life. However, what that really meant was that the kids would have a better shot at having a better life by going to school and getting a job. I never knew what I wanted to become until summer after middle school when I randomly asked myself, "how was Facebook created?" Seeing The Social Network gave me hope and inspired me while also gaining valuable insight into how my dream company came into existence. It showed me the American Dream, which was exactly what a first-generation college student like me was raised to believe.

When we listen to music in private, we are bringing out the reality of who we are. Music is so much more than just music; it is a way of life. We play it loudly to complement our celebrations and listen to it quietly when we are in pain. Growing up, music was played all day long in the house, literally. At the time, I had a radio. I woke up one day and tuned it to 96.5 TDY, which was the station that had all the pop music that I came to like. Ever since then, I have been in love with pop music. But little did I know how much music was going to mean to me. I grew up listening to the likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, and many other similar popular artists. While I listened to the radio each day after coming home from school and keeping it playing while I went to sleep, I developed a desire to somehow "be in the music." I was not sure what I meant by that but I knew I wanted to feel closer to the music. The years went by and I was still listening to my radio. However, once middle school came to an end, I finally figured out how I was going to "be in the music." No, I did not know Adele or Ed Sheeran, so I could not just call them up and request to be in their music. I did not even know how to sing, nor did I possess any musical abilities at the time. However, as middle school was coming to an end, we held our annual talent show. I did not participate but my friend, who I had the biggest crush on, did. I did not even know she was musically inclined, so when she auditioned for the talent show I was shocked. She auditioned to play the piano. And right there, is when I fell in love with the piano. She played it so beautifully, and not to mention how beautiful she was. Those few minutes were something out of this world for me. Immediately after we graduated, I decided to learn the piano. While self-teaching myself the piano, and boy was it one of the most difficult things I have ever indulged in, I finally realized how I was going to "be in the music." I was going to be in the music by taking my hobbies of playing the piano and later filmmaking to create music videos of my favorite songs. Music has helped me get through so much in life. Like many other people, I have been heartbroken countless times, so songs that have a sad tone to them are ones that I simply adore. However, my favorite song is Ed Sheeran's "Perfect." The song simply reminds me of the life that could be. I believe in the power of love and "Perfect" hits it home perfectly (pun intended).

As a first-generation and immigrant from Haiti, I can assure and attest to immigrants everywhere that life is not easy. I immigrated to the U.S. at the age of four. Like many immigrants, I came with my dad, cousins, and a few other relatives. However, my mother stayed behind. Even to this day, I have no idea why she did not come with us. But little did I know just how difficult life would be for me because of it. My family came for a better opportunity in life. When we came, we lived with my aunt, who had already immigrated a few years prior. It was a small packed house, 13 people to be exact, in the city of Philadelphia. It was a tight fit, but we made it work. Since Haiti is not a good place to live economically, my father still supports my mother. However, after a few years, my dad got married to my now stepmom. However, like most relationships, no one wants their significant other to stay in touch with someone whom they used to be with in the past. This completely complicated my life and mental health. Growing up, at just the age of 10, I was always reminded of the fact that I would have to bring my mom into the U.S. and that I would have to take care of her. What a way to be a kid, am I right? But seriously, it only grew worse as I got older because then I understood more and more what exactly my life would entail. Instead of growing up like many other normal kids, finishing college, moving out, and eventually getting married to the person they met during high school or college, I would be growing and having to worry about how exactly I was going to support someone else's life, way before I even had the chance to take high school Algebra. It killed me. But I knew and accepted that my life was not going to be like most kids. Luckily I picked up a few hobbies in piano and photography and filmmaking that keeps me occupied. I was also fortunate enough to have found my passion early on in life. I focus on that passion and my hobbies every day. I plan on taking my passion for computer science to Facebook, where I hope to gain the necessary skills to build my own tech company. I also plan on starting my own charity where I will donate to the causes that I care about. Those causes include, but are not limited to, hunger, student debt (in particular kids who will grow up the same way I did, in need of money for school while also having so many other problems in life that they have to somehow tackle head-on), and immigration.

Growing up as a first-generation immigrant from Haiti, I am always thinking about the future. I knew that I wanted to spend my entire life helping people. "But how exactly would I go about doing that," I would ask myself each day. Often, I was asked what I wanted to become when I was older. However, I would just stare at whoever was asking in the utmost confusion. I was constantly told that someday you can become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher. Surprisingly, engineering was only occasionally mentioned. After graduating from middle school, I was finally free. I could relax and spend my time off from school doing what I wanted to do, video games and sleep. However, that summer—summer 2015—the summer before entering high school, my life completely changed. I found myself not playing video games and eventually not sleeping as much as I thought I would. That summer, on an extremely humid day, I was sitting on the bed inside of one of the rooms in my parent's house, and with the television and game console off since I was just uninterested in using either of them, I miraculously asked myself, "how was Facebook created?" Little did I know that this question was about to change my life. I was now more curious than I have ever been previously in my entire life. I decided to spend the rest of my summer researching my answer. After countless days trying to find my answer, I was finally led to computer science. I finally learned exactly how Facebook was created and decided that I wanted to learn computer science. That summer, I began searching for various ways to learn to code and was happy to see the level of support that was online. I landed on Codecademy.com and begin my coding journey there. I spent the remaining summer and all summers thereafter coding for days on end. I knew that this was my calling because as I was learning, the nights would turn into mornings but I would never get too tired of it. I was never bored and even told myself how much more fun I was having learning to code than playing on my game system. Just when I thought it could not get any better, I recalled in my research on Facebook their mission of connecting the world. I always knew I was going to help people when I grew up. But now I knew how I was going to do so. I decided that I was going to help connect the world with technology. Therefore, Facebook was the place I knew I had to be. My dream in life is to ultimately leave a positive impact on the world and give back to the younger generation growing up so that they too can dream big. Receiving the Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship would be an honor, allowing me to continue my educational journey so that I can leave a positive impact on the world.

We are living in a world where not everyone can get along. We wake up every day (those that fortunately do) to a world where someone somewhere is planning on doing very evil deeds. Will it ever become possible to get everyone to not have hatred towards someone? Unfortunately, no. The world is not set up that way. With over 7.5 billion people living today, there is bound to be at least one person who will decide that their sole mission for their day is to do and bring anything but good to the world. My name is Jerry Noel, a current Sophomore majoring in Computer Science at Pennsylvania State University. I am a first-generation student and an immigrant from Haiti. Growing up, I was always confused when asked, "what do you want to become when you grow up?" It was a confusing question because I was never introduced to the various types of careers that were out there. Therefore, when asked what I wanted to become when I was older, I had no clue because I did not know what my options were. "You can become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher," I was told, and—yes—engineering was sometimes sprinkled into the list as well. But were those the only careers that one could have? Even though I was confused with the career possibilities that were out there, I always knew that I loved technology and helping people. But little did I know that there was a place in the engineering field that was right for me and that would allow me to combine both. I was never introduced to the various types of engineers. It was always, "you can become an engineer." But never, "you can become a computer engineer, a computer scientist, a mechanical engineer, or even an industrial engineer." However, after graduating middle school, I sat down in front of my PlayStation and decided that I was not going to play. The television was turned off and I sat there on the bed in the guest room. I was completely uninterested in playing with the game system that I had spent hours per day playing with in the past. As I sat there, with the sun high up and the temperature outside well above 90 degrees, causing the room to feel just above 75 degrees since there was no air conditioning, I asked myself, "how was Facebook created?" The question appeared out of thin air. But little did I know that this question was going to be the biggest question that I have ever posed. "How was Facebook created," changed my life. It introduced me to engineering and in particular, computer science. I then spent half the summer before high school delving into the question. Each day, I spent hours researching exactly how Facebook was created. I not only learned about the coding that went into Facebook, but I also learned about their mission to connect the world. They were helping people, which aligns with what I love to do. But this time it meant something bigger because this time, I was seeing technology become the core of how Facebook was helping people. I love tech and I love to help people. This was not just an opportunity; it was a calling. After spending my first summer strictly doing research and learning to code, I now knew what I wanted to achieve in life. It is a two-part process. First, I plan to work at Facebook so that I can help connect the world and bring as much positivity that I can along the way using technology. Second, I plan to take my skills and resources that I will have developed to start a charitable organization, where I plan to give back to the list of causes that I care about. This list includes, but is most definitely not limited to, scholarships for students who cannot afford to pay for college, families who struggle to put food on the table, poverty, and a lack of young kids not knowing the careers and opportunities that are available to them. Currently, I am taking numerous steps to ensure that my plan becomes a reality. Ever since the summer of 2015—the summer before I entered high school—I have been teaching myself to code. Each summer, I would spend days with no sleep coding and learning the various languages that are used to build the various companies and products that we have today. I was able to spend those days with no sleep learning because I was following my passion. It did not feel like work; it was fun. When school is in session, however, I would join clubs and programs that were geared towards tech and giving back, while continuing to teach myself to code when I was finished with all my homework. Notably worth mentioning was my involvement in the National Honor Society, where I was able to give back to the community through service and a computer science program at the University of Pennsylvania, where I had the opportunity to come back as a first-time two-time intern. Now that I am in college, I have realized just how fast time can fly. But that is the beauty of it. You get to grow and see everyone that you grew up with grow up too and become successful at the things that matter to them. Now that I am in college, I am seeing the results of summer 2015. Those endless nights I spent learning over the past six years have now led me to create numerous websites and apps as well as taking me one step closer to realizing my dreams. Even though we are living in a world where not everyone can get along, I know that by doing my part, following through with my plan and dreams, I will significantly impact the world and make it that much better and safer for those who are in it.

The music we listen to in private brings out the reality of who we are. Music is more than just music; it is a way of life. We play it loudly to complement our celebrations and listen to it quietly when we are in pain. The song I chose is Ed Sheeran's "Perfect." The song is a pop love song and resonates with me because I see love as a strong and beautiful aspect of life. The playlist compiled consists of mostly love and sad pop songs because my life is filled with not only love but various heartbroken moments.