Andre Garner Earns 2016 Lilly Scholarship for University of Illinois

Andre Garner * University of Illinois

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) worked closely with Eli Lilly & Company to confirm Andre Garner as a winner of the 10th annual Eli Lilly & Company Scholarship for BDPA Students. There were three winners of this scholarship. Andre is an outstanding person to win this prestigious scholarship.

Andre Garner was asked to share his story with us. He wrote,

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"As a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I look forward to studying computer science at one of the nation’s top preparatory schools for aspiring technology innovators. In addition to my interest in gaming, I am particularly interested in helping to expand the reach of high technology to include more people and communities often left out of this exciting area.

In June of 2016, I graduated from Chicago’s Lindblom Math & Science Academy after four-years of academic and social rigor that helped to expand my knowledge of technology, math, science, language, culture and history among other areas. During my Lindblom experience, I was introduced to a diverse cross section of people and experiences. I competed in game design competitions and conferences. I was exposed to Asian, Pacific Island, Caribbean, Latin and Persian Gulf food, art and cultures. Most importantly, my interest was piqued about the vast world of possibilities beyond my home community and the world I had known my entire life.

With technology and gaming being of particular interest to me, I have intentionally sought to expand my knowledge of the unfamiliar and remain open to the limitless possibilities that might only be realized through the further globalization of technology and innovation.

With that in mind, I have served as a volunteer with a number of organizations, including a local church-based food pantry, an annual Thanksgiving food give-a-way organized by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and leveraging my technology skills in helping an organization created to honor the 100th Anniversary of the cultural movement that brought the families of both my parents to Chicago from the Deep South, The Great Migration. I also spent three years as a volunteer member of the computer maintenance and repair team overseeing technology equipment throughout the campus at my high school.

In planning for college, I sought admission to schools with strong computer science and technology programs to help me toward my goal of developing cutting-edge gaming products while working with youth in underserved communities to become proficient in coding and technology applications. My most recent summer internship experience with Chicago’s Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation’s Urban Tech Squad helped further define my desire to lead and develop engaging social and academic programs for youth.

Just a few months ago, I was encouraged by family members and mentors with the Urban Tech Squad to sign-up for a student membership with the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA). Through BDPA, I look forward to working with seasoned professionals in the technology arena to further plan both my career and my desire to develop opportunities in technology in communities throughout my home town of Chicago and other places around the world in need of illumination from the light of technology."

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Andre is a remarkable young man with great skills. BDPA looks forward to following his career as he progresses through college and on into his career!

President Profile: Jason Gibson (BDPA Central Illinois)

BDPA Central Illinois was chartered in August 2003. The founding members were Lorenzo Marshall, Dave Beasley and Theonnie Shields. The chapter is currently the 29th-largest in the nation.

Jason Gibson, chapter president
BDPA Central Illinois
Address: P.O. Box 1806
Bloomington, IL 61702-1806

Phone: (309) 766-8807
Website: http://www.bdpa.org/BL

Jason Gibson took over the chapter presidency in July 2013. Jason and his leadership team are working to grow membership by focusing on increased member participation. Jason is committed to increasing student enrollment and partnering with other STEM-based programs. Jason leads by example ... he is one of the instructors for the K-12 students who are training to compete in the 2014 national High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship.

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Jason's Favorite Quote: "It's not what you look at that matters,  it's what you see." ~ Henry David Thoreau

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Jason Gibson

Jason has enjoyed technology since building Heath Kits when he was a child. In high school Jason took several programming courses and spent numerous hours coding games on his Commodore 64. While at Aurora University, he worked as the Computer Lab Manager and eventually, Network Administrator and Instructor in the Young Scholars Program.

Jason left Aurora to begin his career at State Farm in 2000, supporting the server and network infrastructure. Jason transitioned into the Systems Analyst role in 2004 and has worked with multiple technologies including J2EE, C++, Visual Basic, Spring, Struts, Dojo and several other user and business interface technologies. Jason has served as a Quality Engineer, reviewing design and code and continues to learn new technologies.

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Jason's Other Favorite Quote: "Whether you think you can,  or you think you can't -- you're right." ~ Henry Ford

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Jason earned a B.A. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Computer Science from Aurora University in 1999. He earned a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Springfield in 2009. Jason is a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and an Associate in General Insurance (AINS). Jason is currently enrolled in the Master in Information Systems program at University of Illinois Springfield.

Jason’s vision for BDPA Central Illinois chapter is simple and direct, "We have to remember that we must remain highly motivated, dedicated and enthusiastic about our organization. As the Chapter goes through a time of change, our strategy must focus on membership growth, practical community engagement and organizational professionalism".

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Please use the POST COMMENT link below to share some BDPA-Love with the president our BDPA Central Illinois chapter!

Related articles

• High School Computer Competition (Central Illinois, 2014)

Bemley Scholar Byron Wooden Seeks Computer Science Degree from University of Illinois

BDPA Chicago chapter has trained some excellent young men and women in its Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program over the years. None better than Byron Wooden. Byron earned a Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship as a result of the bronze-medal performance of his High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team trained by Chicago to compete at the 2010 National BDPA HSCC Championships. Byron informed us recently that he plans to use the Bemley Scholarship funding to study for a computer science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Class of 2017).

During Byron's high school years he was part of the cross-country track team and earned a spot on the dean's list all four years. He also became active with the BDPA Chicago chapter as a high school student. His passion for problem solving through web development is what brought him to BDPA in the first place. His BDPA experiences inspired him on his current pursuit of higher education in a STEM-related curriculum.

We asked Byron to share his thoughts on the BDPA experience:

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At the start of 8th grade, I had no programming experience. What I had instead was a desire to solve problems by building things. At that time, I wanted to be an inventor and entrepreneur. I would come up with ideas for products or services to create; everything from flying cars to a nanny service to help new moms. I envisioned myself building things for a living. My Dad took me to work one day and introduced me to HTML, CSS and JavaScript. He showed me how to build webpages ... and I loved it. I could build anything that I saw in my mind's eye; and I tore through those languages until eventually they weren't enough. Eventually I knew that I needed more. I joined BDPA in the 8th grade because I wanted to be better able to build web sites and solve the sort of problems that we all see everywhere.

I was discouraged when I first started with BDPA Chicago chapter. I assumed that I would be the most talented programmer in the class due to my prior experience with web development. The opposite was true. There were at least six seniors with years of experience and dozens of other students with more age and experience than me as well.

It wasn't likely that I would do well enough to make the national HSCC team from Chicago. However, I managed to stay interested in the program for two reasons. First, I didn't join BDPA to be the "best coder". I joined to become a "better coder" so my job was to polish my skill set and not to shine. The second reason I stayed was because the HSCC program wasn't a competition, or at least it didn't feel like one. The program felt like a class, the first one I had ever taken where everyone was engaged, helpful and where the environment was fine-tuned to produce advancement.

2010 BDPA Chicago HSCC Team in Philadelphia

Through focus and consistency, I managed to be part of the national team that year (2010); the only freshman on a team full of seniors. Our team went on to place third place in the national HSCC championships held in Philadelphia.

My sophomore year was a rebuilding one for the chapter's HSCC program. Most of the students from the prior year graduated. That year (2011), I became team captain and a large onus was placed on me to help the team be successful. This year, just like last, did not proceed the way that I expected. I assumed that my experience from the previous year meant that I had nothing left to learn from BDPA.

2012 BDPA Chicago Chapter SITES Students

The truth is that in all my years in BDPA, I've never stopped learning the same lesson that I'm learning today: how to be a leader. It is from these lessons that I learned to manage a team of peers, take responsibility and report back to coaches on the progress of the team, and also how to help instruct other students in the program.

Although the teams I was on never placed as high at the national HSCC championships as we did during my freshman year, I wouldn't trade the experiences that I've had with BDPA Chicago chapter for any other, because I know that these experiences have been invaluable in preparing me for a professional career in ways I never could have imagined when I joined BDPA.

During my first four years with BDPA, I've not only had the opportunity to improve my skills as a web developer, but I've also had the opportunity to find other dedicated coders to build websites with. It is working with my BDPA teammate that has meant the most to me. They challenged and pushed me as a web developer by sharing new techniques or challenging my programming logic and even by given me competition to try to outshine. I will leave for the University of Illinois in the fall. I'm sure there will be aspiring web developers there as well. I can't wait to find them and to begin to build web sites with them; a lesson well and gratefully learned at BDPA!

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BDPA Education and Technology Foundation is very proud to have Byron as one of our Bemley Scholars! We look forward to following his college career and eventually his professional career. I sense that Byron may be back with BDPA one day as a chapter president or a regional vice president or perhaps as our national president! Share some love with Byron as a REPLY or COMMENT to his testimonial.

Finally, you can help us increase the number of college scholarships that we give out to the BDPA Chicago students with your secure online donation. Won't you support BDPA today?