Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science student Samuel Hill walked into the engineering lab on campus last week, not knowing what surprise was about to come his way.
After applying for the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship a few months prior, Hill thought he was just casually meeting with his teacher. He found a box inside the lab, and he nonchalantly opened it.
Inside the box, he discovered a poster that read “Amazon College Scholarship Winner.”
“That was such an amazing moment for me,” Hill said gratefully.
Hill, a Laurel native and senior at MSMS, has been named an Amazon Future Engineer scholarship recipient to pursue an undergraduate career in computer science. He is one of only 100 students across the country chosen for this award, which pays $40,000 over four years.
Recipients were chosen based on a variety of criteria, including their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience,
future goals and financial need.
Hill said before receiving this scholarship, he would have had to take out approximately $16,000 in loans throughout his college career. Now he will be debt free.
For his application, Hill had to construct a computer science-based project. He focused his efforts on creating a template for a cybersecurity academy for underprivileged kids in Mississippi.
“There’s obviously an issue with our education system and obviously an issue with our economy,” Hill said. “I decided to propose an idea to fix both of those in one swoop, and that is to build a cybersecurity academy that will teach the kids of today computer science that will put them to work in a job of higher salary.”
Along with the scholarship money, Hill was offered an internship through Amazon in either California, New York or Texas, the summer following his freshman year of school.
Hill will attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall. He also has been accepted into the university’s honors college.
At MSMS, Hill has gained valuable skills and experience in computer science and engineering. He said the reasoning behind attending MSMS was to learn from “the best of the best.”
“Here I was able to dive into a lot of my computer science skills…,” Hill said. “It’s been just a great experience learning from the best who push you to do your best. It’s because of these connections that I’ve made, because of these friendships and learning experiences here that I was able to be confident enough to pursue this scholarship or feel capable of being selected.”
Hill had help for the scholarship application from one of his teachers, Engineering Coordinator Danielle Grimes. Without her encouragement and compassion, he said, he does not believe he would have been chosen for this award.
“Sam is absolutely a hard worker, but it goes beyond being a hard worker and someone willing to push to make something creative and new,” Grimes said. “He never just stops at what the rubric says, and he always pushes it one level deeper. His ability to do that was why I was so happy to recommend him to get this kind of scholarship and to have this opportunity for his future.”
After college graduation, Hill said he plans to stay in Mississippi in hopes of creating his cyber academy program here. Many times people want to leave the state, he said, but he wants to turn Mississippi into a place individuals choose to stay.
“I want to live in a state that I am proud of, that I can help move forward,” Hill said. “I want future generations to also be proud of their state and help them pave the way for their futures.”
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