Ayushi Rajpoot Awarded Aspire2STEAM Scholarship Made Possible through Generosity of OpenEyes Technologies, Inc.

Rising freshman at Georgia Tech, Rajpoot is passionate about growing her expertise in computer science to address gender equality issues worldwide

DES MOINES, IA, UNITED STATES, June 17, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- “Ayushi Rajpoot is one of those humans who sees a problem and is compelled to do something about it,” said Cheryl O’Donoghue, CEO at Aspire2STEAM.org. “During the pandemic she founded GirlsHack, a virtual program dedicated to empowering and supporting girls with a passion for computer science. Through her work with GirlsHack, her team uncovered that it was difficult to bring virtual coding camps and resources to girls without stable internet access. The disparity inspired Ayushi to work on solving the issue with the resources of the United Nations (UN) Foundation’s Girl Up program.”

Girl Up is a leadership program to advance girls’ skills, rights, and opportunities to be leaders. As a Girl Up Coalition Leader for the state of Georgia and Girl Up Club President and Founder at her high school for three years, Ayushi advocated for a bipartisan bill addressing obstacles preventing girls globally from pursuing secondary education; organized and raised funds for the Girl Up Global 5k Run which aids UN programs supporting girls education and safety; served on the 2020 Southern Region Summit Executive Committee to plan a virtual summit for girls with the aim to promote self-care and empower advocates for gender equality; cohosted a workshop at the 2020 Girl Up International Leadership Summit; among other activities.

Ayushi’s scholarship was sponsored by OpenEyes Technologies, Inc., an international firm headquartered in Washington DC that works with many associations, companies, government agencies, and partners throughout the world. OpenEyes specializes in comprehensive consulting, support services, and custom software development solutions through ISO-certified standards, in addition to software products for assessment, education, training, and surveying.

“We are awestruck by what Ayushi has done during her high school years—her work with Girl Up and all her many extracurricular activities—as well as her plans to use her college education to make an even greater impact on the lives of others,” said Trushant Mehta, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for OpenEyes Technologies, Inc. “We know that Ayushi will continue to be an inspiration to other girls and we’re proud to sponsor her ASPIRER scholarship.”

O’Donoghue added, “I am inspired by all our scholarship applicants and Ayushi’s accomplishments, though impressive, are eclipsed by her positivity and integrity.” In her application, Ayushi shared her experience being on her high school swim and dive team. She had been working hard to receive her varsity letter when she came down with a serious case of influenza. Her recovery kept her out of the pool for weeks until she was cleared to compete in the last meet of the season. She gave her all, but just missed the time needed to make varsity. Surprisingly, only days later at her school’s sports banquet, she was awarded a varsity letter. She didn’t want to make a big deal at the banquet but the next day she met with her coach to tell her that she believed there was an error in the system. Once checked, it was determined that her time had been mixed up with one of her teammates.

Wrote Ayushi, “I couldn’t accept the award. If I ever did reach my goal of lettering, I wanted it to represent my hard work and effort, not a mistake and worse, a lie. Although I did not leave with a letter in my hand, I left that season with something more powerful. I walked away with my head held high, and even more strength and determination to reach my lettering time in the upcoming summer or next season.”

Ayushi will begin her college studies in the fall of 2021 as a freshman at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her major is in Computer Science and she’s looking forward to learning new coding languages and working with other students and faculty to build solutions, especially those designed to help make the world a more equitable place for young girls from other countries.

“I cannot help but believe that living in America is not just a chance for me, but an important opportunity to become part of a global movement for much needed change,” said Ayushi. "I have a chance to write my own story, have my ideas heard, and follow my dreams. Yet, I have seen through my travels in India that not everyone gets these opportunities. I hope one day to lead a tech startup for social good that further empowers girls in STEM and addresses the issue of how to bring virtual coding camps and resources to girls without access to a stable internet—a world where every girl has the opportunity to write her own story.”

ABOUT
Aspire2STEAM.org (formerly known as Mission Sisters Who Work) is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We provide scholarships and mentoring to young women and girls who are working hard—aspiring—to achieve careers that require education in science, tech, engineering, the arts or math…and they could really use a hand up over the incredible barriers of student debt and rising education costs, and the real, ever-present opportunity barriers that still keep them out of most male-dominated industries.

These young women are doing their part, let’s help them by doing ours. Donate now at Aspire2STEAM.org/donate/. Your kindness is a catalyst for change and empowerment for the young women and girls we serve.

Cheryl O'Donoghue
Aspire2STEAM
Cheryl@Aspire2STEAM.org
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Ayushi Rajpoot ASPIRER Scholarship Recipient