Passionate about Internet Security, real estate, social media, business, and entrepreneurship. Andre excels at developing solutions to complex problems. He is currently a freshman at Carleton University studying computer science with a minor in business.
Hi! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, I am Andre. I am a first-year student studying computer science at Carleton University. I grew up in Peru and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was three years of age. In early high school, I would describe myself as someone very interested in business rather than computer science. In my sophomore year of high school, I decided to make the switch to computer science. It was a challenging decision since I knew very little about programming and was pretty much set on pursuing a career in finance. However, after attending several hackathons, I realized that it was exhausting programming for 24 hours straight. Still, I also realized how exhilarating it was to create a potential solution to a prevalent problem in society. I committed to studying computer science after attending several hackathons and tech conferences. On that note, I would seriously recommend attending conferences related to your field of study before committing to a career in that field. I have seen many of my peers’ switch programs simply because they were no longer interested in that field. Underrepresented minorities in technology, including women, Hispanics, and African Americans, each face unique barriers in either access or exposure to technologically related careers. As a Latino in computer science, I saw the statistics that showed the small percentage of Latino’s in the field of technology, and I initially felt that I didn’t belong in computer science, but I also wanted to prove the statistics that Latinos can be as good as anyone else in the tech industry. Fast-forward to now; I feel that I made the right decision; the nice attribute about pursuing computer science is the vast electives and different minors you can choose from. After reading my story, I hope that you can get motivated as you do not have to be a coding prodegy to pursue a career in computer science. Many people I know that are in computer science are transfers from either business or psychology, knowing very little about programming, and they are performing very well. To summarize, whatever career you choose, think about what you are passionate about, and think about a career/undergraduate program that you will enjoy, while still achieving your goals.
How would you describe the application process in brief?
The Google Generation Scholarship Application process consisted of uploading your up-to-date resume, stating any extracurricular or past work experience, school transcript, and four 500-word (each) essay questions. The questions were not technical in the programming sense as they ask you to genuinely describe your goals, aspirations, and why you became interested in computer science. Further questions involved giving examples of how you exhibited leadership, how you affected the members of your community, and how you see yourself as part of the solution to the challenges that visible minorities face in technology. Furthermore, the final question asked what impact would receiving the scholarship have on your education. You must read the questions thoroughly before answering and be genuine when answering these questions as these questions, in my opinion, are designed to get to know you better as a person and what impact you have had on your community.
Why do you think you were selected?
I believe my passion for creating technological solutions to real-world problems is a factor that contributed to why I was selected. Furthermore, my essay responses were genuine, and I believe that my essay was strong enough to grab the reader’s attention as my focus was on my leadership and how I solved a problem in my community. I made sure that my essay reflected me and my personality; in my opinion, these types of essays are made to get an inside look at who you are. Therefore, do not be afraid to write out your hobbies, personalities, and interesting non-technical activities you participate in or outside school.
Major accomplishments
BackX is a device that I built in my senior year of high school for the Weston youth innovation award. As students, we have to carry books and a laptop to class every day, and the problem in the world is that so many students are carrying extremely heavy backpacks and ruining their posture. I decided to resolve this problem by creating Back-X, a device that detects whether a user has bad or good posture through an accelerometer and an FSR (force-sensitive resistor). The user would then receive notifications on their phone about their posture. I heavily marketed my innovation to university and college students and received many positive responses. This is one of my major accomplishments since it was the first time I ever reached the semifinals of a big technical competition.
Any failures or rejections you faced?
It is crucial to keep trying even if you have failed multiple times, it might take years of reapplying to win a major scholarship, but it will be worth it once you win. The first time I applied for scholarships, I made the mistake of applying to all the big scholarships and not paying any attention to the smaller scholarships. I was rejected for many of the big scholarships, and thankfully my guidance counselor suggested smaller scholarships that were still accepting applicants. I was very confident in my essays, which was vital in winning the scholarships.
Any advice you would like to give future applicants?
It is essential to start your application early and start working on it whenever you have a time in your schedule that is uninterrupted for at least an hour. Once you have a rough version of your essay, you can then start editing and fixing grammar issues or run-on sentences. I would recommend having a friend or even a family member check your essay as they might spot mistakes that you or your grammar checker have not found. I would highly recommend not solely relying on the grammar checker from Microsoft Word and checking the essay over yourself. Grammarly is an online grammar checker that I use every day to check for any grammar or sentence issues in my writing; I would highly recommend checking it out. Another very important thing I would like to mention is to never lose hope as big scholarships are very hard to win as there is much more competition. If you do not succeed at first, then I would recommend looking at any smaller scholarships offered in your city/state. The competition is much smaller, and the probability of you winning is much higher. To conclude, make sure to refine your essay so that the next time you apply for that scholarship, you have fixed any grammatical issues and have a much stronger essay than the previous one.
We hope that Andre’s experience of The Google Generation Scholarship application process inspires and helps you!