HHS senior wins Amazon scholarship, internship

Thousands of Amazon Prime boxes get shipped every day, but few hold as much value as the surprise package Hoover High School senior Jessica Bradley received on April 3.

Inside that Amazon package, delivered at school by her computer science teacher, was the news that Bradley had won a $40,000 Future Engineer scholarship from Amazon and the chance to intern with the online commerce company after her freshman year of college.

“I’m just very excited to learn and be part of such an amazing group of humans that were selected,” Bradley said.

Bradley, an eight-year resident of Hoover, said she first became interested in computers because of her father, who works in computer security and set up her first computer. She would spend many of her nights and weekends playing with the different programs and learning how the computer worked.

“I took the first opportunity I could to take a computer science elective,” she said.

That first class was an AP computer science class her sophomore year. Bradley said it’s a challenging field, but one she enjoys.

“It has a place in my heart. I’m just a problem solver and that’s why I think it attracts me so much,” she said.

Codes and programs rarely work on the first try, but when they work after multiple attempts, “it’s just such a rewarding feeling,” she said.

Since the beginning of her junior year, she has introduced other young women to the field with Hoover Girls Code. Bradley said she and a group of high school students invite Hoover elementary and middle school girls to “a night of computer science” every month or so.

She was one of only a few girls in her first computer science class, so Bradley said it’s important to her to show “it’s accessible to both genders and all races.”

As a Hispanic young woman, Bradley said she likes to talk with other girls of minority races and tell them that “they are very capable of whatever they set their minds to achieve.”

Often some of the girls who come to Hoover Girls Code seem to think coding isn’t “cool” or they don’t belong there, Bradley said, but by the end of the night they’re usually having a good time. The Hoover Girls Code nights include activities like micro bit programming or 3D printing jewelry.

She wants to fight the idea that “I can’t choose programming over princesses or something like that.”

Her favorite part of Hoover Girls Code is “seeing the reactions and the development of these girls over the short span of a few hours, … how they realize how they belong.”

Her work with Hoover Girls Code was part of the reason the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards named Bradley one of the top two youth volunteers in Alabama for 2019. Bradley had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. in May to meet other top volunteers from across the country and be recognized for her work.

Bradley also volunteers with Hoover High’s Relay for Life and is active in her school chapter of DECA, which encourages future business leaders and entrepreneurs. She has also started two “side hustles” while in high school: a photography business and her own jewelry line.

Bradley said she would like to own her own company in the future.

“I think that being my own boss is a really cool thing and I think I want to continue to do that,” she said.

Bradley’s academic and civic accomplishments also helped her land the Amazon scholarship. She was one of 100 U.S. students chosen.

A press release from Amazon stated that all winners were outstanding in academics, leadership, community activities and their future goals, as well as financial need.

The Future Engineer scholarship is paid out over four years, in addition to the paid internship at Amazon after her freshman year.

Bradley said she has not decided where she wants to go to school yet, but she will study computer science and possibly courses related to entrepreneurship or business management. She said she’s looking forward to the opportunity at Amazon to apply her skills, learn new ones and make connections that will help her in the future.

“It’s something that’s always been my dream, honestly,” she said. “… My freshman year I never could have imagined being where I am today.”