Rentec Direct is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Rentec Direct Tech Mastery Scholarship.
The Tech Mastery Scholarship program from Rentec Direct offers assistance to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing an education in technology by helping them achieve their academic dreams and future goals in the technology industry.
The 2021 Tech Mastery Scholarship has been awarded to 4 students working towards a degree in computer science or related field.
“Technological innovations are far more possible when we decide to actively foster and support these creative young minds,” says Nathan Miller, president of Rentec Direct. “It is great to see so many of this year’s applicants demonstrating insight about the importance of technology’s role in meeting daily needs and solving future problems. Many applicants indicated that this has been particularly apparent in this last year, when everyone relied on technological solutions more than ever to meet day-to-day challenges.”
“As an internet-based organization, Rentec Direct is directly influenced by changing technology. We want to support future technology influencers and we found one of the best ways to do this is to encourage academic achievement through a scholarship program,” explains Miller.
Tech Mastery Scholarship
As part of the application process, students are asked to answer the following question:
What are some of the greatest obstacles the tech industry has overcome in the past five years and what, if any, major obstacles do you foresee for the industry in the future?
Essays are judged on the level of creativity, humor, and content.
“We had a lot of worthy applicants this year,” says Miller. “It was impressive how many students have already achieved so much in the industry through academics and extracurricular activities. Our scholarship committee had a difficult task ahead when they undertook the selection process for the 2021 scholarship recipients.”
2021 Tech Mastery Scholarship Recipients
Sonica Gupta, University of Southern California
Sonica has been pursuing her master’s in Computer Science at the University of Southern California and will be entering her 2nd year in the program. She graduated with her Computer Science degree from Oregon State University in June 2020 and realized during her undergraduate studies how vulnerable the public is because of how data could be mismanaged. As life and school settings normalize in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonica hopes to return to campus in Fall 2021 and take on a greater role in mentoring undergrads. She feels that her success is due in part to the mentorship she has received.
Sonica plans to become a software engineer and remain conscious of the risks of data mismanagement. She believes that when developing software “if users are put first in the process, it would be less likely that the users would be compromised.”
Jack Belisle, Georgia State University
Jack is currently a sophomore at Georgia State University and has a deep love for computer science and computer engineering. In his spare time, he likes to code and fix electric components. Jack takes pride in his time management skills and the work ethic he’s developed while working full-time and attending school.
Jack aspires to be a computer programmer and feels that using the skills he is currently honing, he is positive he can excel in college and use his degree “to help change the technology industry for the better.”
Juan Gabriel Gomez-Morales, California State University East Bay
Juan Gabriel Gomez-Morales is completing his junior year at Diablo Valley College. Juan has been accepted as a transfer into California State University East Bay where is hopes to get his bachelor’s degree in computer science in the next two years. He found himself drawn to studying tech after taking one computer science class. He says “I loved that class and really enjoyed testing myself by coding. That is how I decided computer science was for me.”
Juan says his dream job in tech is “anything to do with coding and programming,” and adds, “I really enjoy writing code.”
Luke Fernandez, Central Oregon Community College
Luke is a sophomore at Central Oregon Community College. Luke’s interests include computer science, entrepreneurship, puzzles, and stargazing. Luke is a problem solver, who loves computer science and wishes to “positively impact the world through my insight and abilities.” Luke says “I also aim to be a major part of projects that impact communities and having a degree in computer science has already given me knowledge I’ve been able to use to build software and think logically through complex problems.”
Luke’s dream job in tech is to become a CTO (chief technical officer).
2021 SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE
Rentec Direct introduced the Tech Mastery Scholarship in 2016 for students pursuing an education in computer science or technology.
The next deadline for the Tech Mastery Scholarship is April 15, 2022.
About the Rentec Direct Tech Mastery Scholarship
Rentec Direct will offer up to four $500.00 scholarships per year to outstanding college students pursuing an education in Computer Science, software development or other closely related fields of study. For more information about eligibility, requirements, and upcoming deadlines visit Rentec Direct’s Tech Mastery Scholarship page.
