In talking to fellow classmates about my financial problems, I found some students who had won a Microsoft Technical Scholarship that paid for tuition (everything but books, room, and board). Just like me, these students were Caucasian males. One student had written a 20,000-line chess program with AI (artificial intelligence) while still in high school, and was quite a prodigy; the other student was more like me—industrious, business-savvy, and well-rounded. I decided to apply for this scholarship, which required applicants to write four essays, obtain a letter of recommendation, and submit a resume along with an academic  transcript. In addition to completing the application, applicants needed to go through the Microsoft internship interview process and be selected to work as a summer intern—which was very challenging. I had the opportunity to be interviewed on campus by a Microsoft recruiter, and eventually took a trip to Microsoft for the rigorous five- to seven-hour technical interview. While I waited to hear back from the scholarship committee and the Microsoft interview process, I continued to look for other opportunities.

While working in the computer lab one day, I saw an email sent to the CS department regarding a semester-long software development position, in which one student would join a group of three other students and a professor from the Claremont Graduate University. Without hesitation, I responded that I was interested in the position, attached my resume, and expressed my dire need to earn extra income. I was interviewed with a group of nine other students and was eventually selected. For this position, I had to commit to approximately 20 hours a week for the entire semester and produce a deliverable of a software library at the end of the term. The problem was that I had not met my teammates and determined whether they were up to the task; nor had I realized the implications of taking on this position with my current workload. Shortly after accepting the position, I learned that I had won the Microsoft Technical Scholarship and a summer internship at Microsoft, which meant that I would be able to pay for my junior year and at least a portion of my senior year. At this point, I quit the track team and began what turned out to be an extremely painful semester.

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