Delon Hampton & Associates African Americans in STEM Scholarship

In my community I have demonstrated leadership while dedicating hours in community service. A few of these were peer mentoring, tutoring, and camp counselor. While working in the role of a peer mentor and tutor I was able to assist other students with developing ways to effectively communicate, set goals and develop action plans for studying. While volunteering as a summer camp counselor with the Louisiana Children’s Museum I had the opportunity to lead young kids through STEM activities and provided representation of an educated male working within a diverse setting. By engaging in community service activities, I have showcased my ability to inspire and motivate others to work towards a common goal, thus displaying leadership qualities such as compassion, empathy, and a strong sense of social responsibility. In keeping up with the need of society to advance so that we can improve quality of life as well as ensuring the planet is sustainable for as long as possible; I aspire to study the STEM academic discipline of civil engineering. I have always admired the incessant thinking and problem-solving skills of engineers, but I care more for helping the general populace. You see, engineering is not foreign to me as I grew up with a first-hand view of this in my own family. Two family members pursued degrees in Electrical Engineering and my grandfather was a journeyman electrician. When I was younger, my grandfather would often take me with him on his residential jobs and I enjoyed shadowing his every move. What I enjoyed most, however, was seeing how he handled his tasks. Initially he began with “what do we know,” expanding to “what do we not know,” and finally getting to “what do we need to find out what we do not know?” I liked how this was structured and how it logically flowed together. Of course, someone may infer that I would like to expound upon this foundation and also pursue an education in Electrical Engineering, however, I think that there is more room for sustainability that can help the general population. When it comes to sustainability, I immediately think of civil engineering. We only get one earth so we must find ways to use its resources sustainably. While in college and upon graduation, it is my goal to secure internships and employment that focus on projects that would greatly enhance the quality of life for the human race while being cognizant enough to replace what is taken from the planet or limit the destruction of it. As a native of New Orleans, I am familiar with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. I believe that the overtopping and collapse of levees was a tremendous failure as far as a civil engineering standpoint. As an Engineer I will always try to find new and more efficient ways to solve problems. Secondly, I will work to make sure that our Earth’s resources are being used sustainably. Although levees may have sparked my interest in civil engineering, I am more so drawn to quality-of-life improvements. It is my hope that such improvements and innovations would be greatly appreciated in areas such as air and water treatment, developing and supplying areas with sources of renewable energy, as well as waste management. I firmly believe that treating our non-renewable sources of air and water will allow us to live fuller and healthier lives. If we couple that with healthier non extinguishable energy sources such as wind, water, and solar power, I think we can contribute to making this planet viable for future generations.

I’m a Black, female senior at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago, Illinois. I love soccer, foreign languages, and physics. I’ve currently been accepted into the civil engineering programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, and Northwestern University. I want to pursue a career that will improve our way of life and the infrastructure of our cities. More specifically, I’m interested in getting my PhD in water resources engineering and conducting research. My grandmother lives in Jackson, Mississippi. Jackson is a great, predominantly-Black city where I spent most of my summers growing up. Recently, she’s had difficulty getting adequate water because of the city’s water supply being contaminated with lead and the pipes being outdated. She and the rest of my family down there have been using water bottles to drink and bathe with. In February of 2022, the NAACP accused the state of Mississippi of racial discrimination in funding allocation. The first time I formally learned the term “environmental racism” was during my internship with Argonne National Laboratories. We were discussing how the neighborhood that you live in Chicago, sometimes quite literally from one block to another, your life expectancy can increase or decrease up to 20 years. Chicago has a history of redlining and racial discrimination in their housing practices. That same week we were learning about Chicago's history of redlining and racial discrimination, there was an explosion on the Southside. On the news that day, the city engineer prefaced the footage the implosion was planned, and pointedly “not toxic”. No one in our class believed him. We watched the coal power plant explode and its sand-colored dust circulate through homes, parks, and schools. The explosion took place in Little Village, a predominantly-Mexican neighborhood where some of my fellow interns lived; the dust remained in the air for three days afterwards. Being a great example of what we were discussing, our instructor had us research the situation independently. One thing I found that will always stick with me was an interview with a man from Little Village visibly upset, saying he couldn’t stand the constant disregard and pollution of his community, and he would leave as soon as he could afford to. As he spoke, the video cut to an aerial shot of the neighborhood still recovering days after the implosion, and then to Bridgeport, a predominantly-White neighborhood on the Southside. It became clear that inequity is built in Chicago’s very infrastructure. By the end of the internship, I was able to lead my team in developing a plan in utilizing renewable energy in part to extend the city’s public transportation system (CTA) in Washington Park. Overall, there's a lack of oversight when it comes to these planned demolitions and a general disregard for the health of communities of color. Civil engineering, to me, is the most community-focused discipline of engineering. I plan on using my education to be an active voice, and use my research to improve everyday life. I’d like to be a leader in my city, and speak on the behalf of those who are unaware of the consequences of a coal power plant moving in next door. Companies and city governments take advantage of communities of color by not giving them the full context of what it means to live next to a highway for years; the serious effects that are under researched because the health of brown and Black residents is not a priority to them. I want to make a difference in my city and improve our current strained infrastructure.

My life changed forever; on my sister’s 12th birthday, my mom transitioned. The loss of my mom impacted my entire life. After my mom’s transition, my sister and I moved from Georgia to Arkansas. Moving from one state to another at a young age was scary. I had to adjust to being a new student at a new school in a new city. The loss of my mom impacted the college I now plan to attend. My mom is an alumnus of Mercer University, located in Macon, GA. I probably would have applied for enrollment at Mercer University if my mom was here. As a resident of Arkansas, I plan to enroll at Arkansas Northeastern College because it is known to be one of the “cheapest schools in America. At the age of 10, I suffered from abandonment by my father. He walked out of our lives after our mother’s funeral. The absence of my parents impacted my ability to afford college. Shortly after my mom died, my dad moved to the Philippines, passing away in June of 2022. Knowledge of no possible financial support from my parents caused financial and emotional stress in my life. I miss the emotional support from my parents, who encouraged me to apply to the college of my choice without worrying about the cost of college. I also faced additional challenges at a young age, speech impediment being one of them. It contributed significantly to the problems I struggled with in school. I was too young to identify the reason why my life changed after my mom transitioned. My sister and I lived with our grandfather in a roach-infested house. He took us to school in his 1986 Chevy van as my mom’s truck remained parked. We did not get new clothes or shoes. Bags of new clothes and shoes, too small for us, were found. Our mom purchased the clothes and shoes for us, but she was too sick to give them to us. Our grandfather was not a shopper. We got only new school clothes and one pair of sneakers for the school year. Another change was we ate dinner at fast food restaurants. We had to order the cheapest meal on the menu. Emotionally, we were not allowed to play outside. We sat in the bedroom watching our mom suffer from depression and other physical illnesses. One day, I came across the Steel Tech Academy Program at Arkansas Northeastern College, which immerses students in the steelmaking processes, industrial technology, and manufacturing principles. After getting accepted into this program, I grew to love it. As a woman, I have always been interested in science and technology. The Steel Tech program allows me to learn and work with cutting-edge technology in the steel industry. The program challenges me and allows me to pave the way for women in a male-dominated field. Employment in this steelmaking plant was the only solution for money to pay for college. I am a high school senior and will become an intern at Big River Steel in Osceola, Ar June of 2024. I plan to use the money I make while doing my internship for college. My parents would be proud of my decision to attend college and work after school to pay for college expenses. I plan to graduate from the Steel Tech Program at ANC and then enroll at Arkansas State University, majoring in Engineering online while working at Big River Steel. I plan to use the valuable tools gained at Rivercrest High School.

I am Duane Carter Jr., born and raised in Trussville, Alabama. I am a black man who loves to help people out, extremely interested in rollercoasters, and competes in track and field with dedication. But most importantly, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I am a rising sophomore studying Civil Engineering and doing Track and Field at Missouri University of Science and Technology. My passion for being a leader and helping others comes from the Christian principles of generosity, love, and kindness. I have been involved in leadership in my community as I have taken lead acting roles in Christmas plays and Halloween skits. Normally people from the community who are not regular churchgoers or not even Christians come to these events because these events are big American holidays. Because of this, my fellow church members and I use drama plays and skits to help show those people why Christ will make their lives better. Although I do not know if my efforts are making a difference, I hope that the plays and skits I participate in will lead people closer to Christ. I have also been able to display leadership through my school. During my Senior year of high school, my assistant principal told me that he needed someone to help mentor a 5th grader who was having educational, family, and life problems and he thought I would be a good fit. I was excited to be able to mentor someone and hopefully help improve his life. The first session went pretty well as we introduced ourselves and talked about our educational, athletic, religious, and family life to each other. Then as the sessions went on we began talking about deeper issues, playing educational games, and I even got to help improve his math skills. One day as I was walking through the halls my assistant principal came up to me and said that I was making an impact on him. He explained that the kid's grades were improving, he looked happier, and he was not getting in trouble. This experience really meant a lot to me as I realized that I was able to help improve someone's life just by being a leader. My educational goals within STEM are to get a high-quality education in Civil Engineering and graduate Summa Cum Laude. During my educational career, I also plan to build relationships in the various organizations I am in like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Society of Black Engineers, and Roller Coaster Innovation and Design Entertainment Society. All of these goals along with my education will significantly help me reach my career goal, which is becoming a roller coaster engineer and designer. Becoming a roller coaster engineer, I plan to make roller coasters safer, encourage people to overcome their fears, and bring families closer together. This will leave an incredibly positive impact on the world because making roller coasters safer will eventually lead to potential roller coaster injuries/deaths being decreased. When the roller coasters are safer, eventually more people will ride them and overcome their fear of riding roller coasters which will give them the confidence and bravery to overcome other fears they have in the world. Lastly, with an increase in roller coaster safety and a decrease in fear, more families will be able to bond because they will be riding scary roller coasters together, feeling like they are about to die in mid-air together, but most importantly coming out of the roller coaster ride alive together. This will really bring a family closer; it did with mine.