In 2018, shortly after receiving my associate's degree, my elder sister was accepted into pharmacy school. My mother decided to move cross country with her to support her in getting her doctorate while dragging my younger brother and me into the ordeal with no say-so. Shortly after making this decision, my mother got into an accident which laid the responsibility of my sister, her, and my brother who was a minor at the time squarely on my shoulders. So at the time, I was livid I had to put my dreams on hold to play father and head of household, even though I had no children of my own and I didn't have a stable respectable career yet. I was essentially forced into working menial jobs to keep everything afloat. Due to the types of jobs, I had to work and that I was HOH, I couldn't save much or pursue my career which was to get my MBA. Now that my sister has graduated I look at it in a different light and see that it was just the younger me passing the baton to the older me essentially prepping me for fatherhood and marriage. While supporting my sister's dream, I didn't just wait idly by, I kept myself occupied and I learned tons of subjects like Math, English, Science, Programming, and Finance(specifically savings and the stock market vs mutual funds). After my sister graduated, I went to a programming boot camp to further solidify my skills and now I am in Valencia's Bachelor's degree for Computing Technology and Software Development(Computer Science Adjacent). This scholarship would be a boon by helping to cover my expenses while learning one of the most lucrative skills to have and would help me cover the deficit that I am currently at after sacrificing for my sister's dream. I don't think I need to mention that tech is the it of this century and that most billionaires derive their money from programming themselves or making a company that sells software. As far as the three things I would like to promise my future self are to always strive to surpass yesterday, invest in stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and real estate to build a diversified portfolio, and three remember that the field you chose is limitless and is only capped off by your complacency or unwillingness to learn more. I envision a blank canvas with unlimited potential and know that I am the painter of that canvas.

My inspiration for working in technology stems from a few videos I watched when looking into a career change. The first reason is the ability to create and the way it changes your mind from the micro to the macro. The second reason is the unlimited possibilities of which platform to develop for, which language, where to develop, whose project and vision should I support, do I have my vision, etc. The third and final reason is the uncapped potential in wage, industry, and invention. Do I need to say more? Just count how many of our world's billionaires are programmers or companies that make software. When I first learned to program I took the self-taught route, and after learning up to the just-above-beginner level I decided to go to a boot camp to get certified. During the boot camp, I learned a lot and even had the opportunity to make a capstone project with a small team of 4 using agile methodologies with weekly stand-ins. I of course graduated from my boot camp with a 95% completion rate and was top of my class. I went job hunting online and applied to several hundreds of jobs but to no avail, I received no offers. At this time, I had spent just over a year learning, I was comfortable with front-end and back-end technologies, and was fairly confident I could build almost anything. Feeling defeated I decided to be a better dev I practiced code wars daily until I saw a video by a YouTuber, in short, the video was saying to build projects that you are excited about or that fix a problem you have. Since I was originally a business major and had some money in the stock market, I decided to build an app, that helped me monitor changes and mark the fluctuations. This app's main purpose was to save the time I would take from Monday to Friday marking changes, dividends, and a few other details. several iterations and improvements later I have a full-stack app that receives data from my broker's API on my stock and mutual funds. The front end is built with React and the back end is built with SpringBoot featuring a MySQL DB. In the future, I plan to make it so that it doesn't just fetch my data but can fetch and monitor anyone who logs in. I also have plans to not only save the data to the db but also a spreadsheet.

"Only 14% of low-income students receive a bachelor’s degree within 8 years of graduating from high school." I am not of that 14% but it is not how you start it's about how you finish. If I had to choose one achievement it would be hard as I have many great achievements, so instead I will speak about a tipping point that led to many great achievements. To understand the profundity of the tipping point one must acknowledge that in many low-income households finances aren't the only forces holding a person in that state back a lot of the lack of achievement can stem from psychological trauma from self and others. For me, my psychological blocks came from an underestimate of my capabilities, a lack of push or drive, not taking education seriously, and an absolute hatred of debt. The tipping point came at a time I think it does for many people while working a dead-end job and getting fed up. I was working at a call center that also had issues with wage theft. After work on a horrible day, I had to spend a while introspecting and I concluded that I don't push myself and am too comfortable when things are easy. On that day I committed to stop coasting because everything was so easy in life and delve into the uncomfortable every day both psychically and mentally. It started with a daily 45-minute trip to Khan Academy and Rosetta Stone every day after work. Before I knew it I had completed the whole selection of Math, English, Science, and Finance with grades of 95% or better That includes AP Calculus 1 and 2, AP Statistics, and AP Multivariable Calculus and I had completed over 50% of Rosetta's Stone Mandarin course. This inspired me as I always knew I was smart but growing up in certain environments you can't help but have low expectations and little faith in yourself. I joined the Army and I tested in the top 5% on my ASVAB, I started learning and studying everything I could and then I committed to learning one of the hardest topics computer programming. I spent a while teaching myself how to make websites then I went on to graduate as one of the top students in my boot camp and learned a bit more including how to make desktop apps with Java now I am getting my bachelor's where I have the option of taking elective such as machine learning(A.I) and mobile development. I learned from this experience that nothing is impossible and that given time I can accomplish anything. Once I graduate and earn credibility after a few years of work I would like to start an NFP that excels in training the next generation of technologists. I hope that I can make the world just a little better than I found it.

My name is Aram, and my intended field of study is Computer Science, as of right now I have a declared degree for an A.S. in Computer Program/Analysis and next semester I will be enrolled for a B.A.S in Computer Technology and Software Development. I have trained for over 2 years in multiple technologies. I have had experience with technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Java, Spring/Spring Boot, MySQL, MongoDB, Firebase/Firestore, Axios, Git, GitHub, VS Code IntelliJ, Docker, and much more. I have overcome adversity in many ways for several reasons. I may be wrong for saying this but some things need to be spoken. I noticed that the burden to perform lies squarely on the backs of minorities more specifically African Americans. I come from a family with over 30 active doctors in many fields such as pharmacology, oncology, dentistry, general surgery, and more. And even though I have never held myself to a low standard, I have been met with "Oh wow you're a high scorer", "you are smarter than you look", etc. I overcame this by showing what black excellence is. I have done this in many ways graduating top of my boot camp in software engineering, completing A.P Calculus 1 and 2, AP Statistics, and A.P Multivariable Calculus all with 96% or higher, I scored a 9X on my ASVAB, and this semester I am set to finish all of my classes 3 computer science classes with 100%. I wish to help my community in several ways once I have established credibility. First I imagine starting an NFP that excels in training the next generation of African-American and Latin-American technologists. I believe tech has been the dominating force of progression for the last 20+ years and will be for the next 20+ years. Second I would like to start a community center for those who aren't tech heads but whose talents are elsewhere, much like George Foreman's community center. At the end of my career, I will be known as someone who made a valid contribution to software development and was a giving and loving person. My trademark legacy will be a commitment to mentoring and expanding opportunities within the tech industry for the under-represented. I understand that this can not done alone so my method would be to build strong connections based on a foundation of encouragement, inclusivity, and understanding. This is all conjecture, but I would like to make a valid contribution and leave the world better than I found it.

To understand how mental health has affected my goals and understanding of the world, I must go to when it all began. I had just entered the Army, and my future looked bright I had an ASVAB score that would allow me to do any MOS including ones in espionage, nuclear science, and Information technology. But not only did my intellectual scoring place me in the top two percent but also my physical scoring before day one of boot camp I already could do 50-100 situps, 50-75 push-ups, and run a 5:30 minute mile at 210 pounds. I felt great entering, little did I know what was going to occur was my first of many experiences with mental health. After seven days of waiting in a pre-boot camp, it was day one of boot camp also known as day zero: as soon as we, the cadets hopped off we were greeted by dozens of screaming drill sergeants. I wasn't intimidated or scared as I knew the worst they could do was make you work out extra and I already had a love the pain mindset. Day zero goes by smoothly, that night I read my bible and prayed before the lights were cut out. Day one is when my first occurrence with mental health occurs, so we are going about the day as usual, and out of nowhere my brain loses all functional capacity and I turn into a baby both in action and in mind. The first thing that happened was I just started bawling out of nowhere for no reason, second I started walking in a meditative state or sedated state, third I could not speak to let the drill sergeants know what was wrong, fourth I needed to use the facilities and someone blocked me so as a child would I relived myself in front of the whole squadron, and lastly the drill sergeants knew something was wrong but they caused me of faking to leave or get out, which wasn't they case as they would soon find out. As mentioned before my mental faculties aren't operating at 100% closer to 20% so I repeatedly slammed myself against the ground until even they got uncomfortable. The whole issue was humiliating, they took me to the ER and then watched me in their in-house psychiatric unit for several weeks, drew several vials of blood, did an MRI and CTE to tell me that my brain looked normal, and then discharged me like a baby diaper without even finding out what went wrong with their top-notch recruit. It wasn't until several years later, and after many visits to psychiatric units in many states, that I would find the real culprit and that the majority of those doctors were clueless. Two years after being discharged I had the same thing happen again I had no idea what was going on I felt that God was letting demonic spirits possess me or something because at that point even that made more sense than anything these doctors with 20-30 tenure were proposing. Fortunately at that facility, I met a P.A. who was able to figure out what 3 doctors and many lab specialists couldn't as he went through it himself, I had a rare thyroid condition that caused me to go into an infantile mental state. but the second and most important part wouldn't be known until an additional two years and more doctors who knew little to nothing about thyroid issues or mental health and how they can be linked. just recently I found out the full picture that they were agitating my thyroid which was being triggered by psych meds when I didn't have psychiatric issues, which essentially would then send me into a catatonic state. Not only this but because they have been pumping me filled with unnecessary meds and shots they have changed the way my brain operates and now I can't get off of these misc meds because once you start you can not stop even if you were misdiagnosed. In Conclusion, this has caused me to educate myself and get into programming which I have taught myself. My goal is to help make people more aware through websites and when I get more proficient build programs that will help doctors stop wrongfully diagnosing and make more accurate decisions when it comes to mental health. As a person who has received "care" and watched how medical professionals treat others who have mental health issues it is obvious that there is a lot of work to be done. I hope to advocate for and help those who suffer from mental health, especially in the black community in the future.

I have always been interested in computers in general since I received my first one at the age of 11. I was so curious that by 11 I already knew how to reset, defragment, take apart and put back a computer, etc. So naturally as you can imagine I went through training to get CompTiaA+ certified most of which I already self-taught myself. Later in my career, I decided to go for programming after a layoff during the pandemic and, the recession that followed soon after. I committed to learning how to code which I have for approximately two years including a coding bootcamp. I have made web and desktop apps, in various languages HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Java, Spring Boot, SQL, C++, and more. My dream job is going to sound stereotypical. Still, I would like to work in one of the FAANG companies, which should be attainable by the time I graduate, as I will have had over 5 years of practical hands-on coding, placing me ahead of the typical computer science graduate. If by chance I can't become a FAANG engineer I would like to work for a company where I can make a valid contribution and then create my own tech company once I have acquired on-the-job experience. I am the best candidate because as I stated before I have two years of prep before any college schooling, I have had an interest in computers since I was 11, I have trained in many languages and know how to do many things from building a websites, desktop, prompt engineering(AI), API building with Spring Boot and Node, data migration, and I have a decent grasp on data structures and algorithms. If that's not enough I am currently in a semester that just started on May, 6th and I have already completed all of the classwork and homework for the rest of the semester in two out of the four classes that I am taking.

My name is Aram, and my intended field of study is Computer Science, as of right now I have an A.S and only need three classes so that I am eligible to enroll for a B.A.S in Computer Technology and Software Development. I have always had a passion for computers since the day my mother brought me my first one at the age of ten. I was so curious by the time I was 12 I could disassemble and reassemble a computer fix almost any issues, I knew to defragment the hard drive, rewind to a reset point, etc. I also have almost 2 years of programming underneath my belt, I have learned via a combination of self-taught and I graduated from a coding bootcamp. The reason for my change in industry is to give my family a good life and also to make a big impact on society. I have experience with volunteering to non-profits such as Salvation Army, The Nature Conservancy, and Basketball Allstars. And as early as I can remember, I have always been in so sort of band, choir, or volunteering for some church or school based event or club. Another big motivation on why I learned to code is because I saw the limitless application and how I wouldn't be capped by anything except by lack of imagination and becoming to content. At the end of my career, I would like to be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution in software development but also as a giving and loving person. I cannot say yet whether my contribution will be software that I created or was instrumental in its creation or I became a startup founder / business mogul. I would like to also open a community center for under privileged communities and I will start investing early in my career so that later I can open a community that helps shelter those in need without discrimination, you do not have to be a veteran, a woman, a race, a creed, or of a certain religion, you just need to be in need. My trademark legacy will be a commitment to mentor and expand opportunities within the tech community. I understand that it is not done alone so my method would be to build strong connections based on foundation of encouragement, inclusivity, and understanding. At the end of the day this is all conjecture until I make it happen, but I would like to make a valid contribution and leave the world better than I found it.

My name is Aram, and my intended field of study is Computer Science, as of right now I have an A.S and only need three classes so that I am eligible to enroll for a B.A.S in Computer Technology and Software Development. I have spent the last year and a half teaching myself, overtime every day and even graduated from a coding bootcamp. I have become a decent entry-level engineer with experience in web development and desktop development. Family plays a important part in my life so I took this path to ensure I can give them the best. My future goal is to become a solid software engineer eventually founding a tech startup or branching down other avenues besides web development, such as game development, and mobile development. At the end of my career, I will be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution in software development industry but also as a giving and loving person like Mary Jean Baptiste. As a Haitian, I can tell you that education and pride plays a big roll in my culture. For me the bar is set higher than the average Haitian. Although every Haitian has experience their mother or father replying he/she want to be a doctor when someone ask their child what do you want to be when you grow up, for me its a given, I have over 60 active doctors in various countries, and those who are not are either of engineers, politicians, or even comedians(Jesifra) who are family, so the expectation is high. Another given is that my family are Seven Day Adventist and as early as I can remember I have always been in so sort of band, choir, or volunteering for some church based event. I also have experience with volunteering to non profits such as Salvation Army, The Nature Conservancy, and Basketball Allstars. My plans post college will eventually include sustainability, philanthropy, and business ownership.

Being a first-generation college student comes with a slew of disadvantages. I did not have my parents take care of my schooling, I was forced to take loans, even though I felt strongly against them I have never as much as had a credit card. I also will be taking care of my parents while going to school and when I succeed I will have to try to quickly pay of my loans while still taking care of them which mean I won't even be able to enjoy the fruit of my labor as early as my peers. Secondly, being a GED recipient comes with its own disadvantages as well. Not only are you judged some schools will not even allow you to enroll. Even though my GED came from trying to rush into the work force and being bored with school. Not the negative stigmatism that GED students are less capable, in fact I have never had trouble learning anything and exceled. I was the sleeper and procrastinator who always seems to pass without trying. I am also going to school later than the average age which also comes with its set of disadvantages. There is the fact that I have bills to take care of as well as essentially two people who depend on me. Despite all of these disadvantages, I have and will overcome. As of now it is my ambition to become a software engineer/developer, the good things are that I already know how to do over 70% of what the curriculum goes over, I have two years of hands on experience before any formal schooling to ensure that there was little to no chance at failure. During my education I plan to dedicate myself to my studies with no distractions, the great thing is I already can program in a couple of languages and frameworks and have about 2 years of coding experience which will place me ahead of my peers. I would like to be a boon to my peers who are behind as I have been through a coding boot camp and can say that it is not uncommon for less than 25% of those who began to make it to the end. At the end of my career, I will be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution to software development but also as a giving and loving person. I cannot say yet whether my contribution will be software that I created or was instrumental in its creation or whether I became a startup founder/business mogul.

As a first generation college student the expectation to succeed is set high, even though the odds aren't in your favor. As an immigrant you will likely not have your college paid for by your parents, you will likely be taking care of them while going to school and may give up, and in the slim chance you do succeed you have to take loans for the degree and then your parents may expect you to take care of them before you pay back your school loans, which set you back from even owning your first home. I remember going to various places with my mother and the adults would always ask what do you want to be when you grow up ? Anyone who comes from an background like mine or similar will tell you that their parent interjects and usually the answer they give on your behalf is some high earning job like a doctor. I decided to go for computer engineering oh if you heard the disappointment until I broke down the lucrativeness. My choice toward this career field was long drawn out and filled with many deterrents . During my education I plan to dedicate my self to my studies with no distractions, the great thing is I already can program in a couple languages and frameworks and about 2 years of coding experience which will place me ahead of my peers. I would like to be a boon to my peers who are behind as I have been through a coding boot camp and can say that it is not uncommon for less than 25% of those who began to make it to the end. At the end of my career, I will be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution in software development but also as a giving and loving person. I cannot say yet whether my contribution will be software that I created or was instrumental in its creation or I became a startup founder / business mogul. My trademark legacy will be a commitment to mentor and expand opportunities within the tech community. I understand that it is not done alone so my method would be to build strong connections during school and to help people who can help me. Ultimately, I would like to make a valid contribution to the field and leave the world better a better place than I found it.

My name is Aram, and my intended field of study is Computer Science, as of right now in fall I will be working towards a B.A.S in Computer Technology and Software Development. I currently have experience making web applications and desktop apps (GUI through Java Swing and FX). I plan to use my education in computer technology and software engineering in many ways toward the cause of environmental sustainability and improvement. My future goal is to become a solid software engineer eventually founding a tech startup or branching down other avenues of web development, such as game development, and mobile development. I feel like the reason as to why I feel as if I deserve this scholarship is because I already have put in the work and your investment would not go to waste. When I retire, I will be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution in software development but also as a giving and loving person. I cannot say yet whether my contribution will be software that I created or was instrumental in its creation or I became a startup founder / business mogul. I will start investing early in my career so that later I can open a community that helps shelter without discrimination, you do not have to be a veteran, a woman, a race, a creed, you just need to be in need. I will also plan to be reliable as I have been in my past jobs and commitments. I am not merely interested in the lines of code written during projects, but more so how my code can transcend being just to earn a paycheck and become software that positively impacts the people who use it. Even though I am new to the realm of software development, one year and a half, I see and understand the magnitude of what is done with it and understand how it can be used ethically or unethically, and my commitment is to not allow employers to make me become an unethical person. My trademark legacy will be a commitment to mentorship, expand opportunities within the tech community, and philanthropy. I understand that it is not done alone so my method would be to build strong connections based on foundation of encouragement, inclusivity, and understanding. At the end of the day this is all conjecture, but I would like to make a valid contribution and leave the world better than I found it. This scholarship would be a stepping stone in the direction of that dream.

My name is Aram, and my intended field of study is Computer Science, as of right now I have an A.S and only need three classes so that I am eligible to enroll for a B.A.S in Computer Technology and Software Development. In my free time I like to exercise and play video games. I have spent the last year and a half teaching myself, overtime, every day and even graduated from a bootcamp and became a decent engineer. A bootcamp where over 60% of people quit before we got to JavaScript . My future goal is to become a solid software engineer eventually founding a tech startup or branching down other avenues of web development, such as game development, and mobile development. I feel like the reason as to why I feel as if I deserve this scholarship is because I already have put in the work and your investment would not go to waste. If selected for this scholarship about 75% the money would go toward paying off debt accumulated and 25% would go toward getting reliable transportation to make it to my non-remote class, as of now I would have to walk 1 hour each way to make classes. I currently have experience making web applications and desktop applications (UI through Java Swing and FX). I plan to use my education in computer technology and software engineering in many ways toward supporting the cause of environmental sustainability. A few of my major accomplishments include getting a 9X ASVAB score, my advocacy and volunteer work, as well always being dependable whether is at work, school, or to my family. My family are the reason for my career change and if I am selected for this scholarship it will help me be able to take care of my family the way I want to, once I get my career instead of having to take time and funds to cover interest rates + principle. At the end of my career, I will be known as someone who not only made a valid contribution in software development but also as a giving and loving person. I cannot say yet whether my contribution will be software that I created or was instrumental in its creation or I became a startup founder / business mogul. My trademark legacy will be a commitment to mentor and expand opportunities within the tech community as well as the greater community at large.

Nintendo has so many choices if the essay was about single player I would go with Zelda, but since it multiplayer I am going to go with Smash Bros. I have played over thousands of hours across the many iterations but I really enjoy playing as Link from Zelda as his attack help me nock people of the board more easily. There is nothing quite as fun as having a battle royal with friends and family, with up to eight players on the screen at once time can be quite, hectic, it's a love hate relationship as since every one in my family knows I have won tournaments, they always try to team me. But with Link I am almost untouchable, So the game starts and I can feel the shift of the energy in the room and everyone being in silent agreement to knock me off of the board first. As soon as the match starts I see Kirby waddling towards me I immediately hit him with a "Bair Crossup Low%" which almost knocks him off of the map right away, but he is holding on to the ledge and here comes Mario throwing fire balls, I counter with an arrow and a returning boomerang spike to get rid of the Kirby and Mario. I get rid of the Mario but know Kirby is mad and Lucina is helping team she hits me with her super which has me grasping the edge to try to get back on top of the platform but of course now Bowser comes in with his fire breath preventing me from getting back up he then grab me an sacrifices his self for the team to take me out.

I resemble Michael Scott because I have a can do attitude and I am very optimistic. My moto is if there is spilled milk what are you going to do besides cry about it. For instance my school has decided to pull a grant that I was fully relying on, but instead of crying about how will I be ready for summer semester, I have looked into alternatives such as scholarships. I am also like Michael because at times I can be awkward and sometimes I a very childish. I sometime mumble or even make absolute cringy moment sometime but then at other times I am cool as a cucumber. Like Michael I sometimes have a tendency to be inappropriate, not as often and clueless as much as he is, but I have had moments of political incorrectness. I once asked a lady how many months she was, when she looked at me I knew I messed up but even then I kind of gave a "you look good for a fat girl" response and we just both kind of walked away, due to the awkwardness of the moment. Lastly I am like Michael because I mean no harm and I have good intentions but there are moment where I can be very unaware and aloof.