I chose computer science as my major because I enjoy solving problems & algorithms in creative ways. Since middle school, my family has used me as their IT Support Help Desk, from setting up their new devices to troubleshooting & upgrading their current ones. I realized I enjoyed tinkering and typing away one day, so I explored this interest. What started with STEM camps led to my high school tech program and continued into my college journey. Now that I’m entering my last year, I’m solidified in my career as a software developer focusing on UX Design. Since first interacting with the STEM community in a middle school robotics camp, I’ve planned to use my career and income to help bring more black people and women into these fields. I started noticing a pattern of being the only person like myself in the room and wanted to change that. I’ve found ways to start conquering this goal through my mentorship & leadership positions, including my current role as President for my university chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA). An organization I found through a sponsored national conference trip has become a passion I hold dear to my heart. I’ve spent the past couple of years building it up to be a source of information & growth for my college tech community. I plan to spend this year creating a sustainable organizational structure that can continue some of the initiatives I have started, including our annual hackathon and monthly Leetcode coding workshops. After college, I plan to work with organizations like BDPA to help lead young minorities in STEM and tech. I plan to hold local and national positions that will gain insight into how social change organizations function. Concurrently, I plan to work my 9-5 as a software developer and build additional passive income streams. Fifteen years from now, I plan to accumulate enough income and insight to start a nonprofit organization offering career programs and resources to minority students. The main goal of my organization would be to provide top-dollar resources to black students, especially black women, that prepare and expose them to STEM career paths. I have a massive passion for helping others and solving problems that motivates me to pursue these dreams. Providing me with this scholarship would be investing in the final year of a hard-working college student interested in giving back to her community. It would be securing my future and those I help going forward. I have an extensive history of involvement and accolades that show my ability to manage multiple responsibilities and lead others. As an out-of-state student with no car living off campus and coming from a single-parent household, I’m solely responsible for covering my education and living expenses. I have maintained thus far through scholarships and working throughout the year. Earning this scholarship would cover my tuition and housing for the Fall 2024 semester. Thank you for the opportunity to afford my education!!

My name is Nia Berry, and I'm a prospective student for the fall of 2021 semester at Florida A&M University. Throughout my life, I have come to the understanding that I am a logical person. I like organization and problem-solving. As a child, I dominated logic puzzles and riddles and excelled significantly in math to this day. When I first learned about computers, I was instantly devoured with fascination. Such a small piece of interconnected hardware enabled endless possibilities for society. I knew I had a genuine interest after I tried a few STEM and Robotics exploration camps in middle school and loved it. In my freshman year, I joined the Stafford Academy for Technology, which allows kids to take numerous courses centered around information technology. My four years of exposure have equipped me with a basic understanding of computer science that I can quickly expand upon in college. I've gained three years of programming experience in one of the most fundamental programming languages, Java, and independently learned how to design & create an app in Swift. Most computer science majors don't learn these skills until they reach college, so I know my transition to the college curriculum will be a little easier. After four years, I see computer science as my passion and do not doubt that I will excel further in college and my career. I chose to be a software developer because I want to use technology to solve problems. I look up to Elon Musk more than I do Steve Jobs because Musk, the same I want to, uses tech to do revolutionary things like live on the moon. To follow in his footsteps, the recommended education level for a developer is a bachelor's degree, which is why I want to go to college. I plan to use this time to nurture and grow my coding abilities and earn some of my IT certificates. In five years, I see myself as a respected developer at a tech company to build real-world experience. Also, I will be looking to gain multiple sources of income that will help me achieve financial freedom and fund my plans for the future. In 10 years, I plan to start my own tech company that offers free training and jobs to minorities and inner-city communities; my goal is to help bring wealth into the community that future generations can expand on. I believe technology plays a valuable role in the future that ensures plenty of jobs with comfortable pay. I plan to take advantage of this for my community by building my own tech company that inspires and recruits other young black men and women into the computer science field. I aspire to do so by offering minorities in inner-city neighborhoods a well-paying job at my company, no experience required, that teaches them IT skills that help them build career capital. I can benefit these kids by offering them an educational opportunity they missed out on by their inability to attend college. Furthermore, I already consider myself a part of the small community of African American women in STEM. As a result, I’ve seen how that can lead to an intimidating and sometimes isolating experience in the STEM world. I’ve personally experienced this in the interactions I’ve had in the IT world. It’s why I would like to create a platform in the computer science world that encourages more African Americans to explore a career in STEM. I am doing everything in my power to build my education and showcase my potential. I have my short and long-term goals mapped out to ensure I stay focused and give myself ample time to achieve my dreams. Aside from keeping up with work, academics and extracurriculars, I have been applying non-stop to scholarships so that I can afford my tuition. I’ve taken it upon myself to stay in tune with the tech community by listening to podcasts and engaging with the tech community on social media. As a result, I’m aware of the current issues and topics and can take helpful advice from professionals with years of experience. Furthermore, I am currently studying to take my Microsoft MTA test at the end of the month. If I pass, I will have earned my first of the IT certifications many jobs expect a developer to have. I believe Besides my goals and ambitions, I am a hardworking student who has worked a 25+ hours/week job since her sophomore year while helping to take care of my grandma and sisters. Concurrently, I managed a 4.3 GPA (top 10% of my class) and stayed involved in many school & volunteer activities. I am in my second year of student government as class vice president and a member of three honor societies. I believe this shows my ability to handle multiple responsibilities and still prosper in many aspects. To make sure I got to every appointment and submitted every assignment on time, I had to teach myself to utilize organization tools and allocate my time productively. Each experience left me a valuable lesson that I am hugely grateful to have learned. The Undiscovered Brilliance Scholarship committee looks to fund an ambitious, driven, and talented student, and I’m confident you don’t need to look any further. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I stared in dismay as towers of boxes slammed down the conveyor belt, all labeled with random even numbers ranging from 202-228. Each number had a corresponding rack for employees to stack matching boxes on. I rushed to sort the FedEx packages to their correct places, but the process of grabbing one box at a time or picking through stacks to find boxes of the same number wasn’t faster than the rate of incoming packages. I needed a new plan. I walked to the front of the conveyor belt, grabbed the first box, and began sorting. Going left to right, if the box in front of the last were a smaller number than the one before it, I would switch them. I continued this until the whole conveyor belt consisted of neatly stacked & properly sorted boxes: each stack located relatively close to its rack. By doing this, I was able to distribute the packages in half the time with half the trips. In my AP Computer Science class, we called this a bubble sort. This sorting algorithm is an example of one of the greatest lessons STEM has taught me: problem-solving. After four years of STEM courses, my way of thinking has changed. I’ve learned how to break down any problem and evaluate my best solution, considering my tools available and desired outcome. How? Computer science is all about using technology to solve problems. You learn to ask questions about everything to get a greater understanding of your issue. The better you understand, the better your solution will be. Though it deals with technology, I can apply these concepts to a majority of life problems. This is why I believe problem-solving is the most important skill I’ve learned in STEM.