Briana Abraham Uses Her Bemley Scholarship for Computer Science Degree at George Mason University

Briana Abraham

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to award a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship to BDPA Greater Columbia student member Briana Abraham.   This is the second scholarship provided to Briana in recent months.  Briana plans to use it to continue her studies at George Mason University. Briana seeks a computer science degree with a focus on cybersecurity. Her career goal is to become a reverse engineer. She worked the past two summers as a research intern at the University of South Carolina.

We asked her to share thoughts on her experience with BDPA.

"I joined BDPA during my junior year in high school, shortly after I became interested in Computer Science. BDPA gave me a space to hone my programming skills, while also allowing me to collaborate with peers who held similar interests, and who were passionate about software development. My time at BDPA has greatly increased my teamwork skills, presentation skills, networking skills, and of course my programming skills.

My most

2014 HSCC Team (Greater Columbia)

memorable moment in BDPA is during the 2014 National BDPA Technology Conference, when the awards were announced for the High School Computer Competition, and it was revealed that my team had placed second. That moment was filled with elation, joy and camaraderie. My teammates and I, were thrilled to see that the days spent together in preparation for the competition had paid off. We were shocked. The moment for me was particularly special, as prior to this venture, I had no experience with web development, and being able to contribute meaningfully to the team's success, was fulfilling."

This is the 30th anniversary of the High School Computer Competition.  We have given out hundreds of Bemley Scholarships over the years.   We are grateful to Best Buy Foundation and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum for providing major donations in support of the Bemley Scholarship Fund this year.   However, this is truly a scholarship fund that is supported by BDPA members and supporters.  I encourage you to make a secure online donation today!