Franklin High School Graduate Receives Future Engineer Scholarship
Summary: Bamlaku Asmare, a member of Franklin High School’s Class of 2022, was recently awarded a $40,000 Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship.
Recent Franklin Graduate Receives $40,000 Scholarship
It’s not every day someone hands you a check for $40,000, but that is exactly what happened to recent Franklin High School graduate Bamlaku Asmare.
Under the guise of giving a presentation to student participants of the Amazon Career Launch 206 Summer Externship, Asmare showed up to speak only to learn he was the recipient of Amazon’s Future Engineer Scholarship.
“I feel really good. I’m thankful and grateful,” Asmare said. “I didn’t expect it; it was a surprise.”
William King, a project-program coordinator with African American Male Achievement (AAMA), presented Asmare with the $40,000 scholarship at Franklin on July 13.
Asmare learned about the Future Engineer Scholarship opportunity while attending Upward Bound, a University of Washington program that assists students in their pursuit of a high school diploma and prepares them to enter and complete a post-secondary education program. The Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship Program is designed to support underserved students in their computer science education and is a part of Amazon’s commitment to build a diverse tech industry and future.
Jacq Olliges, partnerships lead with Amazon’s Future Engineer program, said it was an honor for her and her team to celebrate the hard work Asmare put in to get where he is today. She hopes this award will help him realize his dreams and build his best future.
“We can’t wait to see all that he does,” she said.
In addition to the $40,000 scholarship, Asmare is guaranteed a paid summer internship at Amazon after his freshman year of college. He’ll be attending the University of Washington in the fall, where he plans to study computer science. He says this internship is a great opportunity.
“This means a lot. I’ve been looking for internships and to know that I have one, it boosts my confidence in getting a computer science degree and a career,” he said.
After college, Asmare said he’d like to start his own business, developing websites and software.
When asked if he had any words of wisdom for the current students at Franklin, he said, “Everything you’re doing now, it’s for your future, so take it [seriously].”
