By Julian MITCHELL

Two Crescenta Valley High School seniors have been selected as recipients of the first-ever Amazon Future Engineer scholarship. Edan Bash and William Ozeas were two of only 100 students nationally to receive the $40,000 scholarships due in part to their commitment to computer sciences. The students have committed to programs at UC Berkley and Carnegie Mellon University, respectively.

Bash and Ozeas began their journey into computer science under the direction of CVHS teacher Dr. Greg Neat.

“I went to class without knowing how to code at all,” said Bash. “He made me love it.”

Neat left a job at JPL to pursue his passion for teaching. He has encouraged his students to pursue their passions as well. Neat wrote both students letters of recommendation for their college applications.

Bash and Ozeas grew up together in the Crescenta Valley community. Friends since first grade, the pair eventually sat next to each other in Neat’s intro to computer sciences class in high school. Now they are both on their way to college, both enrolling in computer science combination programs.

Ozeas is going to Carnegie Mellon enrolling in its unique computer science-music program. He hopes to use the knowledge he gains there to develop a user-driven soundtrack program. The user would give the program some input and the program would deliver a soundtrack in return.

Bash will attend Berkeley as a computer science/electrical engineering major. According to Bash, having knowledge in both fields will give him an “upper hand.”

In addition to the $10,000 dollars annually from Amazon, the pair will also have the unique opportunity to intern at Amazon following their freshman years of college. Information on what the internship will entail is not well known, but Bash is prepared to do “busy work.”

“I didn’t expect to get [the scholarship],” said Ozeas. “It’s such a prestigious thing to [receive].”

Recipients are supposed to discover they have earned the scholarship from a package delivered to them by their computer science teacher. Ozeas had his package delivered by Neat in class. Being at school and having his classmates film him, Ozeas was tipped off that this might not be a regular delivery.

“I was shocked,” said Ozeas.

Both ironically and unfortunately, Bash’s package never arrived. Bash was notified on the final day of the award window via an email from Amazon. Amazon had a shipping error while delivering Bash’s package.

The application process for the 2020 Amazon scholarship is not currently open. Typically, applicants must apply during winter. Both Bash and Ozeas discovered the scholarship was offered after searching online for scholarship opportunities.

“I look at the Amazon scholarships as a reward for those students who have been searching for and also found their passion,” said Neat. “These two students spend their spare time coding [because] they love it and they are really good at it. I give Amazon a lot of credit for having such an initiative but also it is clear to me that their evaluation criteria works.”

According to a press release from Amazon, the scholarship is awarded for “academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and diversity.” Amazon accepts up to 25,000 applications but distributes only 100 scholarships.

  Julian MITCHELL