Today's guest post is from Sruti Modekurty. Sruti is a 2012 National Award Runner-Up and 2012 Northern California Affiliate Award Winner of our Award for Aspirations in Computing. She is a graduate of Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, California, and is currently a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University where she is pursuing a major in electrical and computer engineering. Sruti has been involved in FIRST and VEX robotics since 7th grade, and with her teams has participated in five World Championships.

Naomi Shah is a 2013 National Award for Aspirations in Computing Runner-Up and 2013 and 2013 Oregon and SW Washington Award winner. She is a 2013 graduate of Sunset High School in Portland, Oregon, and will be a freshman Stanford this fall and will be pursuing science and engineering fields as possible majors.

On July 31, I attended the White House Champions of Change for Tech Inclusion event at the White House. At the event, I heard the Champions and prominent members in the tech community describe their “spark” moment: a moment when their interest in IT was nurtured through a mentor, experience, or event. I consider going to the Champions of Change event one of my “spark” moments, extending and enhancing my perspective of IT.