Ismael E., a senior at the School of Science and Engineering at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, recently secured a $40,000 scholarship from the Amazon Future Leaders Program to pursue a degree in computer science. An enthusiastic problem solver, he is eager to further develop his skills in this field.
“Words can’t describe how happy I am. That’s a lot of money and I’m excited for the internship,” Ismael said. “Two years ago, I saw another recipient get it and I was shocked. For two years, I’ve been wanting this scholarship, and the second it opened I applied.”
Ismael, who took computer science classes at SEM, is one of 43 students in Texas and 400 in the nation selected for the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship. As part of the scholarship, Ismael earned a paid internship at Amazon after his freshman year of college.
“I love solving problems in computer science because of the difficulty it offers. It always motivates me to try and find a creative solution,” he said. “Plus, it’s a rewarding feeling to finally create what I envisioned from the start.”
Recipients of the scholarship are selected based on academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, school participation, work experience, future goals, and financial need. By offering this opportunity to high school seniors, Amazon aims to empower them to pursue rewarding careers and drive innovation for a more equitable and sustainable future.
Ismael originally wanted to pursue a career in astronomy, but he said he was inspired to explore the computer science field by his teacher, Christian Florczak.
“He gave us all the freedom in the world and that’s what made me love computer science–the freedom to build solutions to the problems you’re given,” Ismael said.
He met Florczak as a freshman when he took his pre-AP computer science class.
“It definitely didn’t come naturally to him at first, and those are some of my favorite students because they come in with new problem-solving strategies to contextualize what we’re learning,” Florczak said. “It clicked for him when he joined the VEX robotics team and started leveraging some of that CS knowledge and began programming.”
It is because of Ismael’s leadership, two of the school’s four VEX robotics teams also made it to the World Championships this year, Florczak added.
“He’s just an amazing student. I’m so happy he got that scholarship. He’s my third student to get it in a row,” he said. “It’s amazing to see how, two years later, here he is receiving the same award. He clearly saw it, wanted it, and earned it.”
