Valeria Chacon, a rising sophomore studying computer science in the Honors College at Kendall Campus, is interning as a software developer engineer at Amazon in Santa Clara, California through Aug. 9.
The three-month internship, which began on May 20, is part of the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, an initiative that provides high school seniors with up to $40,000 ($10,000 annually) toward an undergraduate degree in engineering or computer science and a paid summer internship at Amazon.
Currently, Chacon is working on projects related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, a process that allows computers to perform tasks without human intervention. Upon completion of the internship, she will have earned $30,000.
“When I would take computer science classes in high school, I was the only woman in a classroom full of men. Obviously, it made me feel like maybe I’m out of place,” Chacon said. “Seeing myself and hundreds of girls around the country get the scholarship reaffirms I’m not alone in this field.”
At Kendall Campus, Chacon serves as the Reach Program manager of INIT, a cybersecurity and computer science club aimed at helping students launch their careers in the tech world. She leads resume-building and professional development workshops.
The 19-year-old, who is slated to graduate next spring, aspires to transfer to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She hopes to work as a software engineer for a big-tech corporation like Google or Microsoft and eventually launch an AI-focused tech company.
