LI Student Awarded $40K Amazon Scholarship, Paid Internship

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — On March 28, Central Islip student Kelly Gaussaint walked into her school auditorium.

As valedictorian, she was told she'd be recognized in a ceremony along with the top 25 students of her class in front of the entire school.

"That's the only reason why when I got to school I didn't have on hoodie and sweatpants," she told Patch.

Little did she know that within one hour, her life would forever change.

Gaussaint, a student at Central Islip High School, was recently awarded an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, comprised of a $40,000 scholarship to study computer science or engineering at a university of her choosing.

She also will receive a paid internship at Amazon after her freshman year of college.

The high school senior had applied to the scholarship program in January, after it was brought to her attention by computer science teacher, Darren Ehrhardt, who said she would be a "great candidate" for the opportunity. Including Amazon's, Gaussaint applied for 15 scholarships.

"I didn't expect to win or anything," she said.

The application required Gaussaint to answer several essay questions about her career goals and how she'd like to pursue computer science.

"All of it comes really natural to me, because it's something I'm really passionate about," she said.

Gaussaint's interest in computer science was sparked during her sophomore year when she took an AP Computer Science Principles class taught by Ehrhardt.

"I fell in love with it, because I really love the problem-solving that I learned, and I love how there's always a solution," she said. "You just have to keep working and working until you find it."

The 18-year-old told Amazon how she intends to start her own software development and biomedical engineering business to create cost-efficient technology for hospitals.

The business would expand on her research conducted in her Science Research Foundations class taught by Rowan Roderick, where she developed an image processing algorithm using Python computing language.

The algorithm evaluates pupillometry, which is used to measure the ability of pupils to change size.

Gaussaint said she was inspired to conduct biomedical research after seeing friends and families deal with their own medical issues.

"I have friends who have diabetes. They might not always have access to resources to get their eyes checked," she said. "Optical exams can help diagnose diabetic neuropathy and other brain activity issues."

As months passed, Guassaint didn't hear from Amazon.

"I thought I didn't get it," she said. "Usually when scholarships don't tell you anything, you didn't get it."

On the day of the top 25 ceremony, she also didn't think much when she saw her parents sitting in the auditorium seats.

"Last year, the valedictorian's parents weren't at the school. So I was like, 'What are you guys doing here?'"

After the top 25 students were announced, the high school senior began to walk off the stage.

"I'm starting to walk off the stage like, 'Okay, back to class, time to go to calculus,'" she said. "They're like, 'Kelly, wait, come back!'"

Principal Eric Haruthunian and Ehrhardt also invited Guassaint's parents onstage.

"I thought, 'Is this a joke?'" she said. "'Is someone trying to prank me?'"

Ehrhardt then gifted Guassaint a box wrapped in paper. In the moment, she still didn't know what it could be.

"I thought, 'Oh, you've got me a gift', because Mr. Ehrhardt is my favorite teacher in the world," she said. "Maybe he got me that sweater."

She unwrapped the packaging to reveal an "Amazon Prime" sticker on the front of the box. Gussaint was still "clueless," she said.

Things clicked only after she opened the box and saw the $40,000 check.

"My heart dropped," she said.

Gussaint received enormous applause from the school audience.

"It was just so great to have all of my friends who are the closest people to me in the audience," she said. "They were cheering me on and saying my name. I love all my friends so much and it was so nice."

When the assembly later ended, it was hard to process her achievement.

"I didn't think it was real," she said.

As a loyal customer of Amazon, her excitement for the scholarship reached multiple levels.

"I think that's why I got the scholarship, to be honest," she joked with Patch. "I think they tracked my purchase record and saw how supportive I was. They gave me all my money back, basically."

Gaussaint is one of only 400 high school seniors from underserved communities across the country who will receive this scholarship, an Amazon representative said. She is also one out of 34 students from New York to receive the honor.

The 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.

More than 70 percent of scholarship recipients identify as Black, Latinx, and Native American (BLNA) and 50 percent identify as a woman or nonbinary, the representative said.

The opportunity also means a lot to her family.

Her father was badly injured in a dispute with a criminal a few years ago while he was on the job as a police officer in the New York Police Department, an Amazon representative said.

As a result, his physical abilities are limited, and he was forced to retire early.

Gaussaint told Patch her parents were incredibly proud of her achievement.

"I got anything I wanted for a couple of days," she said.

The valedictorian will attend Georgetown University in the fall and intends to major in computer science.

Gaussaint emphasized how much her teachers, principals, and educators have guided her through her accomplishments.

When she leaves home, she will miss Central Islip, she said.

"I couldn't have done any of this by myself. I'm very proud of myself and how far I've come, and I'm very happy to have a community like Central Islip that has brought me this far and uplifted me every single step of the way," she said. "It's just such a loving place to be, and I'm really happy to be there."