"Receiving this scholarship will help me as a STEM major. It will provide me with the opportunity to learn all the fundamentals of creating complete sharing programs."- Zion J., 2016 Scholarship Winner
Introduction
I look towards being a member of college soccer, soccer club and track intramurals. I have participated in both track and soccer every year since entering high school and I have learned a lot about cooperation with peers, so I will be accustomed to working in groups and keeping focus towards my projects in college. I hope that my high school career helps me transition into a computer science major who will successfully become a software engineer.
My family consists of my mom dad, brother and two sisters. We are a tight knit supportive family since we often like doing things together just for everyone’s enjoyment. My mother is the primary source of income for us, and as a result I am concerned about paying for my education. It gets difficult at times but she does her best. When my family goes out, it is often for local events or even showing up to me and my brother’s sports events and sister’s theatre performances. I have applied for the FAFSA and several scholarships in hopes that by putting in my part I will alleviate the financial burden that college will place on my family and on me once I graduate.
Short Essay
When I look back to my high school classes I think of a software that facilitated communication between groups of people allowing for instant sharing thereby creating efficiency of our time. In my computer science class, being held in a large room, our ability to communicate as a large group was hindered. In part, this was due to the fact that people dispersed around the large room quickly after the task was given. Communication was hindered by the size of the room. I decided to use a new LAN messenger to discuss the task with my classmates. With this form of communication our class became more productive, since we used the messenger as a way to communicate with each other effectively. I [am seeking] a post secondary education in order to enrich my understanding of various programs while also finding a way to improve communication between others and create an effective environment.
"I believe that with further education I will be able to speed up communication between individuals."
I was inspired to use the organized instruction used in my computer science robot unit to improve my own LAN messenger. The result was small scale sharing between my classmates. The new LAN sharing allowed an easier shift of ideas between the students in my class community. With a computer science degree I can create a software like a LAN messenger, so my community would have the ability to collaborate and share resources instantly on issues and topics that affect us.
Another way to effectively communicate is the use of Magpie, an interactive software that responds to the input of its user so that the communication does not have to be direct. Software like Magpie and the LAN messenger helped split work among my classmates, so I believe that with further education I will be able to speed up communication between individuals. Great teamwork comes from the efficient use of our time and communication between work groups. Using technology such as this to communicate ideas and share essential information could be instrumental to my community. For example, I can create software for guidance counselors to share information about scholarships to help students just like me, and I can help businesses serve their customers faster and more effectively in my community.
Receiving this scholarship will help me as a STEM major. It will provide me with the opportunity to learn all the fundamentals of creating complete sharing programs. College will give me the opportunity to work with peers to create new software that will give me the experience I need to help my community with software that connects all the people in the community.
Magpie can be developed further to apply to a variety of real life circumstances. With some enhancement, Magpie can become an effective educational and career tool.
"Great teamwork comes from the efficient use of our time and communication between work groups."
For example, I look forward to learning how to develop a program that would match student interest. Using Magpie at its full capability, I can foresee coming up with a program where students enter academic or career oriented information. The software would then give them feedback such as schools that offer programs that meet goals, future recommended course loads, and career paths. My software will open opportunities to people who don't necessarily realize the varied options available to them.
- Zion J.