Technology has limitless possibilities to enrich people’s lives. My interest in computer programming sparked in high school when I did my first coding course. For one project, we had to make a snake game with the basic concepts of Java. But there was a twist. After we finished making the game functional, my teacher encouraged us to try to improve the game in whatever way we can. I updated my code to get the snake to change colors as it moves. It was a simple change, but it made the game more visually appealing. As I added more features to the game, I was able to modify the game to my liking. It was fulfilling to show my creativity when solving technical problems, which fueled my interest in the computer science field. The impact I did with programming grew as I continued to do more. For three years, I was part of my high school’s robotics team and worked heavily on programming our robot’s autonomous functions. We got to qualify for state because my code won us additional points! And during my senior year, I teamed up with several classmates to develop a mobile app for the fire department in my hometown. The app informs users of different safety hazards they might have and gives tips on how to reduce those risks. It was a rewarding experience for us to help our community while building our programming skills. Currently, I’m setting up a website for a non-profit organization that helps the needy in Southeast Asia. The website will let donors view their donation history online anytime. Once it’s fully deployed, we hope it will save them time and resources from mailing paper receipts to their donors. As I continue my degree, I hope to work on even greater projects that can help more people. My goal after getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science is to contribute to making the Internet safer for everyone. We need more safeguards to prevent hackers from maliciously using people’s data. I plan to continue to grow my knowledge in cybersecurity so that I can find better ways to protect network systems. One day, I hope to start my own cybersecurity company that safeguards people’s data. I aspire to be the competition that drives other companies to provide better services for their customers. I believe that I’m the best candidate for this scholarship because I value my time with my family and community. Ever since my mom lost her extremities, I’ve been commuting from Chicago to home to help take care of her and the rest of my family. Although I study in Chicago, Huntley will always remain my hometown. Whenever I return there, I offer my time to support my church community, who have helped my family during my mom’s recovery from sepsis. The time spent with family and friends is irreplaceable. I hope to do my best to be there for people who need help since others have done the same for me.

Technology has limitless possibilities to enrich people’s lives. My interest in computer programming sparked when I did my first coding course in high school. For one project, we had to make a snake game with the basic concepts of Java. But there was a twist. After we were done making the game functional, my teacher said we should try to improve the game in whatever way we can. I updated my code to get the snake to change colors as it moves. As I added more features to the game, I was able to modify the game to my liking. It was fulfilling to show my creativity while solving technical problems, which fueled my interest in the computer science field. The impact that I could do with programming grew bigger as I continued to do more. I was part of my high school’s robotics team for three years and worked heavily on programming our robot’s autonomous functions. We got to qualify for state because my programs won us additional points! And during my senior year, I, along with my classmates, got to develop a mobile app for the fire department in my hometown. It was a great experience for me to help my community with my programming skills. My current project right now is to set up a website for a non-profit organization that helps the needy in Southeast Asia. As I continue my degree, I hope to work on bigger projects that can help even more people. My goal after getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science is to make the Internet safer for everyone. We need more safeguards to prevent hackers from maliciously using people’s data. I plan to get a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity after finishing my computer science degree. I want to continue to grow my knowledge of cybersecurity so that I can find ways to protect networks better. I hope to start my own cybersecurity company that will provide VPN services to help increase the availability of secure data. Although I could work for a big, pre-existing cybersecurity company, I hope to be the competition that drives them to provide better services for their customers. This scholarship will help me devote more of my time to not only my studies but also to my family. It has been a huge shift for us to take care of my recently disabled mother. I want to be able to be more self-sufficient with my education so that my family can focus on my mother’s recovery. Being able to cover my education would give me the means to help my family during our time of need.