While some students were focused on winning league games, junior Stephanie Fu competed for, and won, a national title.

Fu was recently announced to be a national winner of the National Center for Women and Information Technology’s Aspirations in Computing award. Out of 3,500 applicants, Fu was among 50 selected for the award. National winners were each awarded $500 along with various prizes from sponsors.

“Next month I get to go to [Charlotte] North Carolina, for the national awards ceremony,” Fu said.

Fu spent months perfecting her application and essays in preparation for the award. Her application included essays about her past experiences with technology and an endorsement from one of her teachers, Janet Stark. She has been applying for the award since her freshman year, but this is the first year Fu has won an award higher than the regional level.

“I found out about it because I took game design freshman year,” Fu said. “Mrs.[Kathy] Ricketts told me about the award.”

Ricketts originally introduced the award to Fu because of her work ethic and potential.

“She is an outstanding person in the computer science field,” Ricketts said. “She’s heavily involved with computer science, robotics club, and programming.”

The NCWIT aims to encourage persistence in computing through continuous engagement and community building with K-12 girls.

Fu hopes to study software development and her ultimate goal is to open her own business in the computer science field