North Shore Senior One Of 100 Awarded Amazon Scholarship

HOUSTON — North Shore High School senior Merlyn Roldan joined an elite class last month when she became one of the first recipients of an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship.
Roldan, 18, is one of 100 high school seniors chosen from under served communities across the country to receive this first ever scholarship.

“I am pretty much on cloud nine. I can’t believe this happened,” she said. “I am really looking forward to it.”

Roldan, who is planning for a career in computer science, said her favorite subjects have always been math and science.

She has also had a keen interest in computers and recalled one of the first ones that helped spur her toward a future in STEM.

“I really like how (computer science) gets my gears running in my brain,” Roldan told Patch. “It makes me think a lot.”

See It Here: Merlyn Roldan receives prestigious Amazon scholarship

The Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship awards those students a $40,000 scholarship — $10,000 per year — to study computer science at a university of their choice.

Those same students also receive a paid internship at Amazon after their freshmen year of college and is one of the few computer science programs to offer both a scholarship and an internship.

“We are confident that these scholarship recipients are our country’s next generation of world-changing inventors and leaders. They are an impressive, hard-working group, and we’re thrilled to call them our first class of Amazon Future Engineer scholarship winners,” Jeff Wilke, CEO, Worldwide Consumer, Amazon told the Associated Press. “This scholarship is a reflection of our appreciation for the work these students have done so far, and an investment in them and the future we all share. We are eager to see the bold paths paved by these students as college students, Amazon interns, and beyond.”

Nathalie Pante, Roldan’s computer science teacher at North Shore High School, described her as humble, hardworking, and intelligent.

“She’s very smart, but she tends to be shy…,” Pante told Patch. “Knowing her is a blessing. She’s a very good kid.”

Roldan, who comes from a blue-collar family, is the oldest of her siblings and will be the first to attend college in her family. She credits them, and her teachers for helping her toward her dream.

“My dad really does a lot and tells me not to stop pursuing what I want,” she said. “He really tries to push me to keep going.”

Roldan said she has a keen interest in cybersecurity and has plans to attend the University of Texas-Dallas in the fall.

To learn more about the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship click here.

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