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Sophia Robinson

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Bio

Growing up I had a lot of hardships to face. Some of them my own, some of them stemming from members of my family. I am the first in my family to graduate high school with, not one, but two honors diplomas. One from high school and one from a trade school I attended for 2 years. I've worked very hard to get to the point that I am in life, and I'd like the opportunity to do more. Ever since I was a kid, I knew that I wanted to go to college. Now I am on the path to doing so.

Education

Rochester Institute of Technology

Bachelor's degree program
2025 - 2029
  • Majors:
    • Computer Science

Auburn Career Center

Trade School
2023 - 2025
  • Majors:
    • Computer Science
  • GPA:
    4

Madison High School

High School
2021 - 2025
  • GPA:
    4

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Master's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Computer Science
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Computer Software

    • Dream career goals:

    • Customer Service

      The Ox Shoppe Cafe
      2025 – Present7 months

    Sports

    Track & Field

    Intramural
    2016 – 20193 years
    Brandon Repola Memorial Scholarship
    My area of focus in school is technology and computer science. I started to pursue my goals of progressing in this field two years ago when I started spending half of my school day at a local trade school. While there for three hours of my school day I was in a computer science class where I was learning programming. I did this both through the class and also by going through courses online to get my state certification in multiple different programming languages and in IT Fundamentals. Now that I have graduated, I am attending college out of state. I'll be going for advanced major in computer science and software engineering. While I'm nervous about my future in any computer science field due to the rise in AI I hope that I can be successful in my future and after graduating from high school. Since the college I'm going to requires at least one year of internship, I'd like to apply for tech internships after my first year. Probably during summers because a lot of companies near me offer, usually IT, internships and I look forward to applying to those and hopefully getting to start work in a field that I love. I've grown to love computer science and technology so much because of all of the possible opportunities after getting my degree. I love customer service because of the connections I get to make with the people around me. So, I hope to become a software engineer or an IT specialist, that way I can do both of the things I enjoy, making genuine connections and working with technology. I'd also get to educate others which is so fun to me! And also, very important. Knowing basic internet safety is surprisingly uncommon despite the rise of technology as of late. I'm so excited to start college as of a month from when I'm writing this. It will allow me to really start pursuing my goals again. While I do some side work over summer, it's difficult to find odd jobs in technology especially since I'm just one person. I'd love to make websites for people and hope that is something I can really start to do once getting through a bit of college. I make great websites but having that further education may encourage people to hire me as their web designer and developer. In college I'd also be able to talk with peers and gather an actual team of people to help do these things.
    Future Women In STEM Scholarship
    When I first ended up pursuing a technology field, I only knew that it was not what I wanted to do. I had taken one tech class prior, and I never wanted to do it again. Preferably ever. But that all changed when I went to a local career center and ended up in a computer science class. A computer science class that I knew I loved a week in. I spent three hours of every school day in that class for my last two years of high school and I couldn't have wished to be anywhere else. The only thing that I would have changed was that out of this whole class of 24 students... I was the only girl. And you might be thinking well out of twenty-four isn't bad. There were three different tech related classes and in total only two women in all of said classes combined. The second year I was the only woman in all of the schools tech classes. And while it was fine for the most part, there were also times when it wasn't. No one would take my offers for help with their code or want to do group projects with me all because they thought I was incompetent compared to them. With all their video game playing I could never pick up on web development faster than them. I could never be better at problem solving or working with databases. But I was, even top of the class. Yet they still didn't care. Then it was because I'm sucking up to the teacher, since I'm the only girl it would be sexist if I wasn't doing well. Excuse after excuse. I had a few friends in that class, but it was still difficult being looked down upon at any given chance. While I am pursuing technology even more in college, I feel as though all of this has pushed me to want to go into computer science even more. To prove the people wrong who had doubted me and to show that I can be successful as a woman in a male dominated field. I'm going to a bigger school with way more diversity so hopefully things will change. I've already talked to people going into similar majors and they're so sweet and just the best! Not to say the guys in my other class weren't cool, some of them were, and I'll always appreciate the guys who supported me and wanted to work with me and who stood up for me when others said things that they shouldn't have. But I'm also incredibly excited to be moving on to another place where there will be more people like me. More women in STEM.
    Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship
    I accidentally joined a computer science class at my local trade school. I was originally interested in their cosmetology program, but the tour of that class was terrifying to me at the time. But I knew that I wanted to go to trade school so last minute I panic picked the next option. Which just so happened to be computer science. I had absolutely no experience in anything technology related at the time. Except for a mandatory tech class in middle school that I couldn't stand. After a couple weeks though, I was on a roll! And that's when I decided that I had finally found what I wanted to do with my life. Computer Science. I got really good at programming really fast. In the two years I was at trade school I accumulated multiple certifications like HTML & CSS, Python, JavaScript, IT Fundamentals, and I competed at state level in web design through SkillsUSA. After I get my degree, I hope to advance in the workforce. I'd like to either be a software developer or a database administrator. Maybe IT but I'm better with software than I am with hardware. If I was going for what I enjoy the most though, I would go into web design and development probably as an individual or as part of a small team working on contracted websites. I feel as though I am the best candidate to receive this scholarship because of my prior experience and hard work put into getting where I am now and where I will be going in the future. I started out knowing nothing two years ago and have put so much time and effort into learning something that I didn't think I would like at first. But while putting in that effort I grew to love what I do. I love the creativity I get to express when it comes to my style of programming as well as in the way that I problem solve. Computer science has made me view how I create and solve problems differently. It has helped me to grow so much as a person, and I can't wait to continue to do what I love in college.
    Chadwick D. McNab Memorial Scholarship
    SkillsUSA. If you haven't heard of SkillsUSA they're an organization that hosts competitions, of sorts, for high school students. Including ones that range from web design to automotive and EMS to cosmetology. Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be able to compete at state level with one of my friends. We competed in their web design program, since that's what we go to trade school for. After we won the regional competition, we went on to states. But it wasn't quite that easy. We spent hours every day preparing. We made website after website trying to get the best results we possibly could! And most importantly, we had a blast doing it all! The project I had to work on for SkillsUSA was one of the best websites I ever made! Probably the best! Even though all of the websites leading up to it were good, the one I did with my friend for Skills was by far my best. We were given four hours and a prompt to work off of... and we did our absolute best work ever! I love that website so much. It was the culmination of weeks of preparation and man did it show. After competitions I sent the website to my parents so they could see it, the competition was held 3 hours away from home so I couldn't show them directly. But my dad thought I was actually trying to get him to donate something. He had no clue that it was the website I had just made. The prompt for the site was related to helping people afford better education, hence the donation call to action that my dad thought was real. That competition changed the way I went about making websites, especially since somehow me and my friend didn't win... we definitely had the best website though. Our teacher didn't even think we were going to make sure a cool site since we had grown so burnt out over the weeks leading up to leaving for skills. But we worked so hard, programming nonstop for those four hours they gave us! And the result was a website that I will forever be proud of, even if the judges weren't. Working in technology inspires me to think about how much I can build and improve every program I ever see. It inspires me to take bits and pieces of things to create something that I find even better. I love the creative freedom I get from web design and programming in general. Which is why I'm going to college for computer science and software engineering. It's something that I love to do, that forces me to think and be creative in the way that I solve problems, that forces me to have patience when things end up buggy as can be or just outright don't work, and it's something that I hope to do in the future.
    Austin Hays All Your Heart Scholarship
    To be a princess! Or so my greatest dream was as a child. As I've grown, I wanted to go into Marine Biology, then I was considering the Arts, then cosmetology, but 2 years before graduation I accidentally ended up in a Computer Science class at a trade school. While I initially wanted to go into their cosmetology program, the open house for that class was... frightening to me at the time. Last minute, I switched and applied to be in the Pro Web and Game Design class. And I managed to get in! All I knew was that I did not like programming at all. I had taken one mandatory tech class prior, and it was my least favorite class ever! But the introduction to the programming class was way less intimidating than the one to cosmetology. Weeks into the class I grew to love it. That's when I decided what I was going to do with my life. Despite the risk of AI taking potential jobs and the job market for people in computer science was wavering, I decided that's what I am going to do! And nothing can stop me from being a woman in STEM. While my dreams and goals have changed quite dramatically over the years, I remain dedicated to what I want to do no matter what that may be. Now, my biggest dream in life is to succeed. To be the first person in my family to have a master's and bachelor's degree, to be the first to graduate from a college out of state, to prove everyone who thought I couldn't do it wrong. My biggest dream in life is to become great at what I do. Planning to achieve my goals has also provided me with some problems to overcome. Mostly picking the college I wanted to go to and hoping as hard as I could that they'd accept me. Almost all that's left for me to do is get through the 4 years and graduate as an even better programmer. And hopefully still enjoy what I do after four years of hard grueling work at college. Just by graduating I will have already done the hardest part of getting to my dream. Classes haven't started yet but I sure have. The preparation is the best part! And so, as my plan to succeed and become exactly who I want to be in the world I will be starting my college journey as of August. I am so excited to be going away for school and to get the opportunity to grow as a person. My plans go further than even I know, I believe that I'll be able to reach my dream. Even if I don't, I'll still be doing something that I enjoy!
    Sophia Robinson Student Profile | Bold.org