The National Center of Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) announced their Aspirations in Computing High School Awardees at the beginning of Jan. and towards the end of Feb. The award is offered to girls in high school for achievements in computing. The application consists of short essay questions along with multiple-choice questions about them and their background.
The short essays were written about their experiences with computing and what they’ve done to expand and fulfill their interests in this field.
“I wrote about my journey [from] elementary school to high school and how I’ve grown into computing from the math side of things,” junior Avni Garg said. “I enjoy math [and] that’s kind of how I grew my passion [for] computing.”
Garg won as a Virginia Affiliate and went on to earn an honorable mention at the national level.
The NCWIT Award creates a platform that recognizes the achievements of those who are generally underrepresented in the STEM community, including women, genderqueer and non-binary members.
“The biggest problem is role models. In middle school, I was the only girl on my math team,” Garg said. “Even in high school there are not that many girls on [the] computer team at [Jefferson]. The award helps inspire other girls to go into STEM and realize they can also do it. They just have to look for them.”
The recognition benefits beginners in the field, offering inspiration and motivation, while also benefiting the recipients
“I was really grateful to win this award,” junior Sanchali Banerjee said. ”It was fulfilling [that] after I shared my experiences with all of the research activities I have done involving computer science they recognized my work.”
Banerjee won the Virginia Affiliate consecutively for the past three years, earning a national honorable mention in 2024.
Both Garg and Banerjee encouraged more Jefferson students to apply as they both benefited heavily from this opportunity. They found the NCWIT competition to be inspiring for themselves and those aspiring to pursue a career in the STEM field.
Banerjee said “Joining this community of the other NCWIT awardees was a fulfilling experience because it’s a good opportunity to network with other people and learn about more opportunities in computing.”
![Student outreach representatives from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) visit Jefferson to talk about career paths involving STEM in the CIA and student opportunities. “[Another CIA representative] invited me to join her because this is a STEM school and both of my degrees are in computer science and systems engineering. If any questions about CIA fields [arise] that contain those sciences, I could answer them,” CIA officer Michelle said.](https://www.tjtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cia-600x380.png)