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When Kendra Aumann-Weyenberg was 15, she was impressed by a neighborhood librarian to code. 

Aumann-Weyenberg, who was home-schooled, went to the native library to be taught the fundamentals of programming and HTML by certainly one of its applications. The librarian inspired Aumann-Weyenberg to enter the sector.  

“She was a robust feminine function mannequin,” Aumann-Weyenberg mentioned. “She satisfied me to enter laptop science.” 

4 essay questions, one advice letter and a résumé later, Aumann-Weyenberg is certainly one of 100 recipients worldwide to obtain Google’s Women Techmakers Scholars Program award of $10,000. She is certainly one of 20 in the US. 

“I am actually grateful for this chance,” she mentioned. 

With that sum of cash, Aumann-Weyenberg plans to place it towards her closing yr on the College Wisconsin-Stout, the place she majors in laptop science-game design and growth.  

“I really like the issue fixing and the creativity of laptop science,” she mentioned. 

The DeKalb, Illinois, native added the Google scholarship to her record after she noticed it in a faculty electronic mail. On the time, she was making use of to quite a lot of scholarships, hoping for one of the best when it got here to any and all of them, since she is paying for faculty by herself.

The scholarship is designated for faculty ladies in any technical area, like laptop science and online game programming. 

Aumann-Weyenberg mentioned she notices that at most one in 5 of her classmates in programming or math courses are ladies. She says she has been fortunate.

“A number of professors at Stout are sturdy, feminine function fashions who’ve been influential as properly,” Aumann-Weyenberg mentioned in an electronic mail. “Sometime, I hope to encourage extra younger ladies to main in laptop science.”  

Her favourite undertaking so far is a online game she made with 4 different college students referred to as “Woolhemina’s Bedtime Round-Up.” The sport has a essential character, who’s a sheep, that makes use of its contagious yawn to blast partying “woolfs” to sleep earlier than the evening is over. 

As a software program engineering intern on the company finance workforce at Digi Keys, an digital elements distributor, she is studying how one can advance her abilities in coding. Upon commencement, Aumann-Weyenberg hopes to get a job in laptop coding the place she is joyful and may say she contributed to one thing nice. 

Learn or Share this story: https://www.jsonline.com/story/information/2020/06/14/uw-stout-student-receives-google-scholarship-women-technology/5338605002/