ATLANTA — Two Atlanta high school students received a $40,000 scholarship from one of the biggest companies in the U.S.
Amazon awarded the Future Engineer Scholarship to seniors Zoey Johnson, who attends Georgia Cyber Academy and Antoni Juarez, who attends Benjamin E. Mays High School.
The award is for students interested in computer science careers. Amazon awarded $10 million in computer science scholarships to students this year.
This program aims to increase access to computer science education for children and young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy congratulated Johnson and the 250 other recipients of the award on Twitter.
Both teens opened an Amazon box, not knowing what was inside, leading to a heartwarming reaction.
"I was stunned because days before, I did not get surprised with a scholarship. I saw that online many students had received a box and I hadn't received anything or any update," Juarez said.
Johnson said she almost didn't apply.
"I was in that stage where you're you're fearful of rejection, really. So you're just iffy about whether or not you want to apply to these big opportunities," Johnson said.
The pair will also intern at Amazon in the summer of 2021 as part of their scholarship win.
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