Preethiya Sekar Uses Her Many BDPA Scholarships at Carleton College

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to announce that Preethiya Sekar will use the Bemley Scholarship awarded all the members of the BDPA Southern Minnesota High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team with a $2,500 college scholarship at Carleton College. She also applied the Monsanto Scholarship ($2,500) and Oracle Scholarship towards her education at Carleton College as well!

Preethiya Sekar * Multiple BDPA Scholar!

Preethiya Sekar was a member of BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter since 2010. She graduated from high school in June 2015 and decided to attend Carleton College in the fall of 2015. Currently her major is undecided but she would like to go to medical school. She haven’t had much experience in the working world but she did hold a research mentee position in a molecular medicine lab. As for what she would like to do when she grows up ... she's leaning towards becoming a pediatric surgeon!

We asked her to share her thoughts on BDPA:

"For the past four years (2012-2015), I spent most of my Saturdays at BDPA talking with friends, checking my rank, and learning new things. Before BDPA I didn’t know anything about computers or programming, much less did I have any interest in learning. However, my instructors made what I was learning exciting. They taught me things and then encouraged me to go out and learn more. What was most thrilling for me was being able to create something. Seeing my code transform into a web page was just so incredible.

2014 So. Minnesota HSCC Team (Preethia, 2nd-from-right)

Being selected to go to the National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) after class was done was probably one of the most rewarding things. After all who wouldn’t like to go to big cities and meet new and important people? But, when I became a part of the competition team I remember all the work we put in. We refer to the summer before competition as “boot camp”. So while all my friends were out enjoying summer, I was sitting with my BDPA friends staring at a computer screen. But I guess, it was always worth it in the end. It’s a good feeling going through the competition and knowing all your hard work was paying off. But no amount of preparation takes away the nerves and angst during the programming portion. They give you seven hours but it feels like less than one. I think we all learned to thrive under the stressful conditions. We knew our part in the team and held ourselves accountable. No matter the outcome, it was always a great experience: either something to learn from or something to remember.

2015 BDPA IT Showcase * Preethiya Sekar

The people in BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter did more than just teach me computer programming, they taught me to believe in myself (sometimes that was the biggest obstacle), they taught me to carry myself with dignity and pride, and to be thankful for everything I have. Over the past four years, BDPA has had a major impact on the person I have become, they remind me to give back selflessly and help others around me."

We just completed the 32nd anniversary of the High School Computer Competition. We are grateful to Monsanto and Oracle for sponsoring their scholarships. BDPA has given out hundreds of Bemley Scholarships over the years. 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! BDPA is blessed to have such a young and talented student as a winner of the Bemley Scholarship. We look forward to supporting Preethiya's career as she seeks to advance in the medical industry!

HSCC Testimonial: Suntheng Taing (Atlanta, 2013)

Suntheng Taing

One of our most active and successful chapters in the High School Computer Competition (HSCC) is from Atlanta. BDPA Atlanta students earned 3rd-place in National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship held in August 2013. The HSCC competition comprises three components: oral testing, written testing and a programming project. Suntheng Taing was a member of the Atlanta team. He earned a $500 college scholarship that he would like us to apply towards Georgia State University. Suntheng was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and he currently lives in Lilburn, Georgia.

Suntheng wrote, "Growing up, my fascination with technology and art allowed me to create magnificent projects which resulted in my efforts to major in Computer Science. With my studious mindset, I chose Georgia State University as an opportunity to grow my intellectualism in the future."

When asked to share his thoughts on the HSCC competition, Suntheng wrote,

"It was an honor to be a part of the BDPA HSCC Atlanta Chapter. I enjoyed the marvelous teachers and coordinators that work hands-on with students who have an immense passion in the field of technology. The most memorable aspect of participating in the HSCC is knowing the determination in my peers and in myself. What struck me the most about my experience was the growth that I encountered in the Chapter because of the drive that I did not know I had."

We encourage our readers to make a secure online donation to the Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship Fund so that we can continue to recognize young scholars like Suntheng in the future!

Bemley Scholar Isaac Gullickson Continues STEM-Based Education at University of Minnesota

Isaac Gullickson * University of Minnesota

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) proudly announces that a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship has been awarded to Isaac Gullickson. Isaac earned the Bemley Scholarship as a result of participating in 2013 (1st place); 2014 (3rd place) and 2015 (fourth place) won by the team trained by BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter at the National High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship.

Isaac is now a freshman at the University of Minnesota majoring in Computer Science. He is passionate about programming and web development thanks to the experiences he received in BDPA. He seeks to be a computer programmer or a full stack web developer. Isaac has a host of experiences with web development that he learned in high school. He was on a mentorship with Mayo Clinic and IBM. He also participated on his first robotics team.

We asked Isaac to share his insights about BDPA, and he wrote,

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"I had a friend in 9th grade who I thought was the bee’s knees when it came to anything technical. I’d ask some vague question about recent inventions or coding and he’d answer, narrating the tale of how programming languages were developed or describing the latest tech from Google, for instance. He’d do so with a passion that was contagious. It was from him that I heard of BDPA and the weekend class that taught some of this wondrous programming that he had told me about. I took the leap and signed my Saturday mornings away. I could not have imagined the impact that my experiences in BDPA would have. BDPA defined my future goals and gave me the skills to achieve them.

Even before I had any goals, I always liked computers. Though this was mostly because of the games I played on them as a kid, the science behind how they worked intrigued me. My only goals at the time for this interest were to wait until college, where I knew I could take courses on coding. This remained my mindset and I never took advantage of the wealth of information the internet could have provided, as I didn’t have the drive to take advantage of it. BDPA changed that very quickly. Creating website applications - tangible products of my work - was immensely rewarding. I worked on projects in class on weekends, at home, in school, whenever I could. BDPA transformed my dormant interest into an active passion. My goals became to teach myself more about web development, to take it further in college, and then a career in programming. However, skills are essential to achieving any goal.

BDPA taught me many skills, including the technical skills of web development programming, to using IDEs, CPanel, and database manipulation. Equally if not more important however, are the soft skills that are transferable to any career. These include public speaking, people skills, networking. Developing these made for some of the most memorable experiences. The experiences of preparing many summers with a team of fellow BDPA students for the competition, developing our communication, programming, and teamwork skills, but more importantly, bonding and becoming friends. Some of my favorite memories are sweating over the programming problems each year at the competition, slowly figuring them out, and implementing the solution with my friends.

2013 HSCC Champions from Southern Minnesota

In 9th grade, I never thought I could have programmed in part a complete web application that created routes for a lawn care company, or a bus routing service, or any of the professional grade problems that we worked on at the national competition. I never would have believed that I would have the focus and passion to be a part of technology and programming so soon, or to realize my childhood interest. Now in college, I find myself trying to keep building on the impact BDPA has had on me, to continue developing the skills and chase the goals I found in that Saturday morning web development class with my friends."

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BETF is proud to support young people like Isaac! However, we need your support. Please take a moment to make a secure online donation in support of the Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship Fund so we can help more young squires like Isaac!

2013 National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) Rankings

2013 HSCC Champions from Rochester, MN

The 2013 National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championships were held in Washington. We had 16 teams competing in 2013. The tension during the 2 days of the competition centered around the team trained by BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter. This chapter won 6 of the past 7 national competitions and arrived in Washington DC seeking to defeat the defending champion BDPA Atlanta chapter.

The winning team from Southern Minnesota included five students --  Isaac Gullickson, Preethiya Sekar, Daniel Sheppard, Herchran Singh and Prabhjot Singh.

Here are the rankings for all 16 teams that competed in 2013 national HSCC championships with the scholarship winnings for each student in parenthesis:

• Southern Minnesota ($1,500 college scholarship for each member)
• Los Angeles ($1,000 each)
• Atlanta ($500 each)
• Washington DC ($500 each)
• Cincinnati
• Twin Cities
• New York
• Greater Columbia
• Chicago
• Charlotte
• Detroit
• Dallas
• Middle Tennessee
• Philadelphia
• Triangle
• New Jersey
• St. Louis

Our foundation seeks to increase the number of students that receive Bemley Scholarships. To do so, we need your help. Please consider making an online donation to help us interest young people in science and technology.

Marcus Schumann Uses Bemley Scholarship to Study Computer Science at CSUDH

Marcus Schumann

Marcus Schumann earned a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship as a member of the BDPA Los Angeles chapter. His High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team who won the silver medal at the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference. He plans to use his Bemley Scholarship at Cal State University at Dominguez Hills where he seeks to complete a major in Computer Science.

Marcus believes that having a degree in computer science would open up many job possibilities for the future. He joined BDPA Los Angeles chapter in 8th grade and that sparked his interest in coding and creating applications. Marcus believes that coding can be used to do just about everything. It is no secret that almost every job available today will require a programmer or computer scientist to help their company grow. In the modern age, technology rules our lives.

Marcus is African American and German heritage. He visited Germany twice with his family. During those visits Marcus noticed how tapped into technology the people are. Technology is valued highly in Germany. Technology and innovation can solve worldly problems. Marcus is also an avid gamer and loves to play video games. Marcus hopes to use his skills to work for the entertainment industry. He believes video games brings the player out of reality and lets them take a break from the stresses of the real world.

We asked Marcus to share his thoughts on BDPA:

"Before I joined the BDPA I did not know anything about what programming was. I only knew that I could go on websites and get information, I didn’t know how any of the web pages actually work. BDPA is the reason I am majoring in Computer Science today and I am so thankful towards my teachers.

Marcus Schumann and his 4 HSCC teammates!

On my first year at the BDPA chapter Los Angeles we went to competition as the HSCC in Washington D.C. It was a great experience I saw famous monuments and our team got second place out of all the chapters for our website application. Our team was top notch, we had a great connection that drove our team forward and to push to the limits. Participating in the HSCC was such as great experience for me, I learned how to work under pressure, present our project to people, and work well with others. Before the competition I had always been afraid of presenting in front of people. Now, the fear is still there but I am able to push through it and speak in front of an audience.

I miss the team we had and the great people I met. The HSCC was something I will never forget. I learned some much and we worked so hard to get second place that year. The experiences and connections I made at the HSCC is it’s own award and it taught me valuable lessons that will last me a lifetime. Thank you for giving me that opportunity."

Marcus is a remarkable young man. BDPA looks forward to following his career as he progresses through college and on into his career in the IT industry! Please note that the Bemley Scholarship Fund is made up of individual donations from people like yourself. Please take a moment to recognize young people like Marcus with a secure online donation!

Yash Shirsath Uses Bemley Scholarship at University of Pennsylvania

Yash Shirsath

Yash Shirsath is on of the rare students to earn a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship for all five years of eligibility as a member of the BDPA Atlanta chapter. His scholarship earnings included winning the entire High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship in both 2012 and 2015.

Yash will use his Bemley Scholarship towards his education at the University of Pennsylvania.  Yash is a National Presidential Scholar and part of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology.  As part of this selective program, Yash will receive a bachelors degree in Economics from Wharton Business School and another bachelors degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. He is very interested in entrepreneurship and plans to innovate in the startup space.

When asked to share his memories of the HSCC journey, Yash wrote,

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"I have had the pleasure of being part of the HSCC program for five years. I came in as a timid rising 9th grader who knew nothing about the fantastical world of computing. HSCC not only gave me concrete and marketable but it also fostered a great passion within me.

2015 HSCC Champions

One of my favorite memories from HSCC that really encapsulates my experience in the program occurred right in the maelstrom of competition. We had just completed eight grueling hours of coding and we were pitching our product to a panel of judges. It had all come down to those few moments. Months of preparation and dedication. From myself. From my teammates. From my coaches.

I was in the middle of explaining the intricacies of the security features that we had encoded into the product, when it hit me. This wasn't just a competition. I could have just as easily been standing in a boardroom, talking to executives about our product. We had gained so many skills from this program that we blurred the line between student and professional. This knowledge has really propelled me throughout my career as a computer science student. When I look forward and envision all of the opportunities that lay ahead, I know that HSCC opened the door to so many of them."

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Yash is a remarkable young man. BDPA looks forward to following his career as he progresses through college and on into the boardroom within Corporate America or his own company! Please note that the Bemley Scholarship Fund is made up of individual donations from people like yourself. Please take a moment to recognize young people like Yash with a secure online donation!

Beleicia Bullock Plans to Use her Bemley Scholarship at Bowdoin College

Beleicia Bullock

Beleicia Bowdoin earned a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship for her work on the 2015 High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team trained by BDPA Washington DC. Her commitment to leadership is exemplary. Beleicia is graduating from the Maret School, where she has had a chance to grow both academically and socially. She is involved in a variety of clubs, including the Black Student Union, Student Admissions Tour Guides, and The Woodley Leaves, Maret’s newspaper.

In addition to being a devoted student-leader, she maintains an unwavering commitment to community service. Currently, she is concluding her Gold Award, which is the highest award that any Girl Scout can earn. For her project, Beleicia founded Operation: GirlCode. This initiative fosters a sisterhood among girls in the male-dominated HSCC championship and has retained a record number of girls for the HSCC team trained by BDPA Washington DC chapter. In addition to her Gold Award, Beleicia also serves as a teen advisor for the National Campaign for the Prevention of Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Here, she contributes her time to promote the Planned Parenthood and create more effective campaigns for the organization.

Many of the skills that Beleicia learned by participating in and leading community service projects, she was able to apply in the workforce. In 2012, Beleicia obtained her first internship at the Hirshhorn Museum. Here, she was the editor-in-chief of the museum’s teen newsletter and a social media intern. The next summer, she interned at the National Museum of African American History and Culture as a summer English instructor. There, she worked with youth on improving their writing skills, while also promoting the exploration of African American art, literature, and poetry. Finally, after graduating from high school, Beleicia started working at the Rock Creek Group, a global investment and advisory firm for institutional investors.

2015 Silver-Medal Winning team included Beleicia Bullock, Lauren Battle, Johnathan Legrant, Micah Moore and Zion Emanuel.

When asked to reflect on her experience with BDPA, Beleicia wrote, "After a scary introduction to computer science, I was so sure that programming was not for me. However, my mother thought that I should give it another try, so she signed me up for the HSCC. It was probably the best decision she has ever made for me. Three years later, I am looking forward to creating the foundations for my computer science career at college and really exploring all that technology has to offer. The HSCC helped to mold my thinking and trained me to think technically and efficiently. Simultaneously, I was able to learn a great deal of social skills, such as how to lead a team, take criticism constructively, and plan projects."

While she is sad to leave her life at Maret, family and friends, Beleicia is incredibly excited to attend Bowdoin College in the fall. There, she plans to double major in computer science and Arabic, as well as minoring in economics and finance.

Anthony Coleman Uses BDPA Scholarships to Attend Midlands Technical College

Anthony Coleman

Anthony Coleman capped off his BDPA experience in high school by winning two scholarships -- Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship and the Human Capital Logistics Scholarship. He will use the scholarships to help fund his Computer Technology degree at Midlands Technical College and Winthrop University.

Anthony grew up in a military family. Both his father and grandfather served in the Armed Forces for over 20 years. Anthony was born in Richmond, Virginia, however he has lived in five different states, including Alaska. The constant movement that comes with being a 'military brat' was stressful at times, however, it allowed Anthony to become an adaptive and resilient person.

Anthony graduated from Dutch Fork High School where he was actively involved in numerous extracurricular activities, such as the Beta Club, Future Business Leaders of America, and Distributive Education Clubs of America. He also graduated from the Youth Corps leadership program, and was the team captain of the BDPA Greater Columbia High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team from 2012-2014. He capped his BDPA experience on the HSCC team by taking home the silver medal at the 2014 National HSCC Championship held in Indianapolis, IN.



He spent his first year of college studying Computer Information Systems at Winthrop University.  He is currently attending Midlands Technical College this fall to continue to work towards his career aspiration of becoming employed as a Computer Programmer. He plans to return to Winthrop complete his college education.

Anthony shared his testimonial on being part of the BDPA Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program:

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After being a part of BDPA for 5 years, I can definitely say that BDPA has helped steer me in the direction of studying Computer Science in college. Before joining BDPA, I had already developed an interest in working with computers. However, I did not have an outlet to further explore my interest and develop skills in the field. When my mom first introduced me to BDPA, I was intrigued because I would be able to do something that I enjoyed while being with my friends from school. As time passed, my friends lost interest in the program due to the early meeting times on weekends. Nevertheless, I stayed with it as my passion for Computer Science and Web Design grew.

By the end of the year, I was a part of the High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team. After my first competition, my team finished in the lower half of the standings. I was not discouraged after this result; it only proved that we had room to improve.

At the start of my second year in BDPA, there was a new focus within the chapter. There were new students and instructors, but there was clearly a different mindset. Everyone felt like we could really compete with the top teams. We took this new attitude straight to the HSCC competition in Baltimore. We finished the competition 7th overall. Although this finish might not seem that meaningful, it was huge step up from how we had performed in previous years. We believed that with a few tweaks to our formula we could easily make it into the top five. With this in mind, we trained harder than ever for the next competition in Washington, DC. I was even named captain of the team before heading to DC. On the night of the Gala, we all expected to finish in the top five. Unfortunately, we ended up finishing in the exact same spot as last year. I felt discouraged after such a disappointing result.

2014 BDPA Greater Columbia HSCC Team

Heading into my final year being a part of the HSCC team, I was determined to have my best performance ever. I was not aiming to merely finish in the top five; my goal was to win the competition. We showed up to the competition more focused than ever. Each day of competition our team was like a well-oiled machine. After the last day of competition, I had no doubt that we would have a great finish. At the gala, my teammates were nervous about the results, but I was calm. When we found out that we had finished second, I was elated. All the hard work and training I had endured had finally paid off. It didn’t even bother me that we missed winning by only a couple points. I was content with our success.

Being a part of BDPA helped me in so many ways. I have greatly helped my public speaking skills and taught me how to lead a group of people to common goal. This was a bonus to all the knowledge I would receive in Computer Science that would aid me during my first year of college. I am eternally grateful to my BDPA teachers, teammates, and chapter leaders.

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We are very proud of the work that Anthony has put in over the years and we're glad that these college scholarships will help him further his education. Our hope is that those of you reading this message will support the young people being trained in BDPA Greater Columbia.

Bemley Scholar Trayer Harvey Slugs His Way to University of California, Santa Cruz

Did you know that the nickname for the University of California, Santa Cruz is 'Banana Slugs'? That is one of the factoids that come to light whenever the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) pays out a college scholarship to one of our deserving student members!

Trayer Harvey

BETF is pleased to announce that $1,500 from Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship fund has been awarded to BDPA Los Angeles student member Trayer Harvey. This young squire represented his chapter three times (2011-2013) at the national BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championships. Each year the performance of the team improved until Trayer and his teammates were able to bring home the silver medal from the 2013 national HSCC championship!

We want to make a quantum leap in the amount of college scholarships that we award in 2015. We need the support of BDPA members and sponsors to 'make it so'. Please consider making a secure online donation today in honor of Trayer and the other young people who benefit from the STEM-based training provided by BDPA all over the nation.

Bemley Scholar Alex Li Seeks Engineering Degree from University of Maryland

Alex Li

Alex Li has been part of the BDPA computer camps hosted each Saturday by our BDPA Washington DC chapter for the past five years. He earned a place on the chapter's national High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team in 2012-2014.  The excellent performance by his HSCC team in 2013 (4th place) and 2014 (1st place) earned this young squire $2,500 in college scholarships from the Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship Fund.

Alex graduated from Poolesville High School in June 2014. He now attends the University of Maryland College Park where he plans to double-major in Electrical Engineering and either Finance or Business Management. He has been focused entirely on his education so he doesn't have any employment experience at this point. Our hope is that one of our BDPA corporate sponsors will scoop Alex up for a summer internship next year. Alex tells us that his ultimate career goal is to start and manage his own company!

We asked Alex to share some memories of his BDPA experience with our blog readers:

"When I first joined BDPA Washington DC in the 8th grade, I did not know what to expect. I was unfamiliar with the group and the subject matter for the weekend computer camp. I had very little understanding of what programming was and what it was used for. Over the course of the past five years in the BDPA program I have been enlightened to a whole new world of computer programming and information systems.

BDPA steered me towards the undergraduate degree I will soon be obtaining. I never considered majoring in something like computer science or electrical engineering. Participating and competing in BDPA has opened countless new opportunities for me. The experience I gained these five years convinced me to pursue a career in the STEM field.

2014 National HSCC Champions! Alex is 2nd from right.

My most memorable moment in BDPA came earlier this month when my teammates and I were called up to the stage to be recognized for winning the gold medal in 2014 National BDPA HSCC Championship. I was very grateful when my team won first place after working for five years towards that goal."

Alex is a remarkable young man. He is the reason that the BDPA volunteers in Washington DC and around the nation work so hard to advance the careers of people in our community 'from the classroom to the boardroom'. You can help. Please take a moment and make a secure online donation in support of BDPA programs, scholarships and services. Do it today. Let's work to give out twice as many college scholarships next year!

High School Computer Competition (Los Angeles, 2014)

BDPA Los Angeles chapter (chartered June 1982) has a powerful legacy! The chapter has trained hundreds of young people in its Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program over the past few years. The results can be seen in the performance of the chapter's High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team in recent years. In fact, The HSCC team trained by BDPA Los Angeles chapter took home the bronze medal at the 2012 HSCC championships ... then came back to win the national championship silver medal last year!

2013 National HSCC Silver Medal Winners

Some of these students earned college scholarships which they are using to pursue STEM-related curriculum in their post-secondary education at places like Clark Atlanta University, Fordham University, Morehouse College, University of California, Riverside, University of Southern California and elsewhere!

2014 Computer Camp Students

The chapter trained 24 students from ten (10) different schools in the greater Los Angeles metro area. Course topics include HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL.

This year the chapter introduced cloud computing and mobile development to our program. The class is led by experienced IT professionals: Temitope Sonuyi, John Malonson III, and Caleb Saunders.

BDPA Los Angeles chapter has a strategic partnership with California State University, Dominguez Hills. This partnership allows BDPA to be able to teach on the university campus and allows our students the ability to earn college credit for the course taught by BDPA IT professionals.

The chapter seeks to secure additional funding in order to give out additional college scholarships to its HSCC students. Please help us by making your own secure donation for our largest West Coast chapter!

Related articles

• Where Are They Now? BDPA Los Angeles Chapter Presidents
• Overview: BDPA High School Computer Competition
• 36th Annual BDPA Technology Conference (Indianapolis, August 5-9, 2014)

Bemley Scholar Pooja Chebula Matriculates to University of Southern California

Pooja Chebula

Pooja Chebula is a 3-time member of the national high school computer competition (HSCC) team trained by our BDPA Los Angeles. She earned a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship for the high-level of performance with her team in the 2012 and 2013 HSCC championships. Pooja informed us of her enrollment to the University of Southern California (Class of 2018) seeking her degree in Computer Science and Business Administration.

Pooja is fascinated with creating technology to help society. She is intrigued by methods to mine and correlate data to revolutionize dimensions of information management, especially as applied to health care. She wants to help ensure that the society we build with the Internet is the sort we intend. Dreams are the sine qua non of success and by joining a creative enterprise that encourages "out of the box" thinking, Pooja seeks to discover her passions and help engineer a brighter, healthier, and sustainable tomorrow.

We asked Pooja to share remembrances of her BDPA experiences with us:

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My life had been overtaken by a virus. A computer virus, that is.

Los Angeles (2011)

In January, 2011, I enrolled in an extracurricular computer programming course sponsored by BDPA. Little did I imagine that only a few months later, bitten by the computer bug and effectively enamored of coding, I would serve as the program manager for the Los Angeles High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team and lead our chapter to several regional victories. As we qualified for the national HSCC, our instructors had high expectations that, for the first time in our chapter's history, we would discover our Midas touch and bring home the golden trophy. The thought of partaking in a national competition was quite daunting in itself, but being expected to win while competing against experienced teams made the journey a stressful one.

2011 HSCC Team

As we entered Chicago's Hilton hotel for the opening session of the national conference, we certainly felt like the underdogs. The HSCC consisted of three sections: an oral, written, and programming portion. While our team flew through the first two sections, we faced grave difficulties in the programming portion. The 2011 business case called for the development of a custom Laptop purchasing application akin to Dell.com. At first glance, I was relieved to note that we were capable of executing nearly all of the functionality requirements. As we delved into the actual coding, however, I discovered that the case was far more complex than it had initially seemed. Cut off from the rest of the world and without access to the Internet, we were trapped: we simply did not understand the presented database schema. Unable to create the application without a clear understanding of the database relations, we essentially accepted defeat within the first few hours of the competition and solely coded preliminary pages of the site that did not involve convoluted database linkages. Naturally, we were shellacked in the competition, emerging a petty fourteenth place out of seventeen competing teams.

As project manager, I felt especially guilty as we landed in LAX and prepared to relay the news of our disappointing loss to our eagerly awaiting parents. I had failed my team: some of my teammates not only bid goodbye to one another, but they also left the programming field altogether. In striving for the prize, we had lost sight of the bigger picture, of valuing our newly acquired programming knowledge and enjoying our HSCC experience. Engulfed in the minute details of database linkages, I had led my team astray. Had I instead encouraged my team to build the entire application with dummy pages, we might have demonstrated our programming aptitude and felt content with our efforts. With one decision stemming from my poor lack of judgment, eight months of our toil had been rendered worthless.

As I ruminated over our performance in the following months, I noted that while mistakes are a part of life, we certainly had learned much from the experience. Practice does make perfect, and our team simply was not ready to compete against accomplished programmers: we were severely inhibited by our lack of programming experience. I was naturally disappointed with the news of our placement, but my rather embarrassing loss gave me the motivation to expand my programming skill set and the tenacity to adapt and implement various solutions.

2012 HSCC Team

As our newly woven team strove for contentment rather than accolades in the 2012 HSCC, success naturally followed suit such that we emerged as the third place winners and the year after secured first place in programming (second overall). If you learn from a loss, I discovered through the 2011 HSCC, you have not failed. As Richard Bach aptly concludes, "Losing, in a curious way, is winning."

National HSCC Silver Medalists (2013)

It had taken three years to truly implement the lessons from my failure, but I finally emerged victorious.

Once bitten, thrice shy, I suppose!

Norman Fleming (MillerCoors) Wins BDPA Epsilon Award for 'Professional Achievement'

National BDPA annually selects and awards the BDPA Epsilon Award to recognize and celebrate key contributions and accomplishments of its members. The 'Outstanding Professional Achievement' award is presented to individuals who have reached or realized a significant milestone in their career, corporate or otherwise, that is noteworthy. One of the 2013 Epsilon Award winners in this category is Norman Fleming, senior director at MillerCoors.

Norman Fleming Wins 2013 Epsilon Award

Mr. Fleming earned this honor from BDPA because for his numerous impressive career achievements. He has over twenty-six years of deep professional business and technology experience including the following:

• Senior Director of Enterprise Business Solutions, MillerCoors (Present). He oversees a Business Information Solutions (BIS) portfolio of over 600 business systems across the entire enterprise. He is accountable for a $90 million annual budget that supports strategic business planning, portfolio management, project management, business analysis, SAP center of excellence, and most importantly, attracting, developing, and retaining the best diverse employee talent in the US and Puerto Rico markets.
• Senior Director of IT Client Relationship Management, Astellas Pharma (2010). He oversaw business solution areas, provided strategic IT leadership, a broad understanding of how technology can be applied to fulfill business objectives, and led the portfolio process for the Americas region in US, Canada, Central America, and South America.
• Program Integration & Management leader, Deloitte (2008). He designed, led and operated large scale technology delivery programs with a strong focus on predictability, results management, method alignment, delivery, risk, quality and estimation. He also provided an integrated set of advisory and implementation services to CxOs and IT Executive Management.
• Other positions include: IT Leader, Merck; Business Systems Manager, Kraft Foods; Director of Client Services, The New York Times Company and approximately 12 years in various management roles at the Chicago Tribune Company.

He has been recognized by Who’s Who in Science & Engineering, Who’s Who in International Professional Management, and received the highest recognition award at the Chicago Tribune company, the President’s Award.  Mr. Fleming holds many certifications and is active community leader. He also graduated with distinction and earned a MBA in Information Systems and he earned his Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Management.

Norm has been a consistent leader within BDPA.  He served on the national BDPA board of directors for many years.  He also came very close to becoming National BDPA president in 2007. Soul clap to Colleen Mayer for submitting the 2013 Epsilon Award nomination for Mr. Fleming.

You can follow Norman Fleming on Twitter: @NPFleming1016

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Subrena Robinson (State Farm) Wins BDPA Epsilon Award for 'Community Service'

National BDPA annually selects and awards the BDPA Epsilon Award to recognize and celebrate key contributions and accomplishments of its members. The 'Community Service' award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated, by meaningful results, strong partnership and collaboration with entities in the communities they reside. One of the 2013 Epsilon Award winners in this category is Subrena Robinson, IT director with State Farm.


Subrena used her leadership skills to add structure to the BDPA Central Illinois chapter. Her efforts led directly to the chapter becoming a more effective organization. As a mentor to BDPA members, she willingly shared her knowledge ... particularly with those who were new to the IT industry.

Subrena played a lead role in the facilitation of a health, drug prevention and self-esteem enhancement program for girls aged 8-17. The program was designed to encourage healthy attitudes and lifestyles that would enable early adolescent girls to reach their full potential

After the success of the girls program, she implemented a similar program for young boys. The program was aimed at boys aged 11-18 and helped them deal with many of the challenges they faced on a daily basis. Each young man was provided mentors from the community who served as positive role models.

Partnering with her Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Subrena established an annual scholarship program that provided scholarships to deserving students including a single parent pursuing a four year degree.

Community involvement includes:

• National African American Women’s Leadership Institute, Fellow * 2008;  Application committee * 2011
• Mount Moriah Christian Church,  Trustee * 2004-present
• Project Management Institute, Central Illinois Chapter, Monthly Meeting Facilitator * 2004-2009
• SMART Girls,  Program Leader * 2003-2011
• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Soror * 2002-present
• Central Illinois Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter Chapter, Committee Chair * 2001-present

Soul clap to Theonnie Shields, founder of our BDPA Central Illinois chapter, for submitting the 2013 Epsilon Award nomination for Subrena Robinson.

You can follow State Farm on Twitter: @StateFarm

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