Coupon Cause Scholarship

My name is Molly McIntire and I am a rising sophomore at Michigan State University Honors College. Although I live in San Francisco, I heard about the school from my grandmother and godmother who both attended MSU. They are both successful women, which peaked my interest in MSU. After looking at the university I realized I liked the collaborative environment and mid-western kindness that came with the school. I liked that the academics were challenging for engineers, but that it was not a school where I would be competing and hoping my peers would fail so that I could succeed. It was one where I could work with others, learn from others, and teach others. The Honors College also gave more of a small school feel, and a supportive community as well as an extra academic challenge, which I knew would be perfect for me. Lastly, Michigan State gave me the financial aid that would make it possible for me to attend.

I started saving for college in high school. I live with my single father and four siblings, two of which are in college. I knew fairly soon that I would be supporting myself, as I generally supported myself throughout high school. I quit taking dance classes, a passion of mine, and focused on working and saving for the future. My parents were recently divorced and financially crippled, and it forced me to become independent quickly. I worked to spend only what I needed. Instead of spending on entertainment or leisure items or experiences, I worked to find cheap or no-cost ways to have fun in my free time. When making purchases I made sure I had whatever coupon codes I could find, and I would compare prices and quality on different sites to be sure I got the best deal possible. These are both things I practice to this day. When I receive checks from work, I am always sure to split it up into savings and checking, usually as much as I can manage into savings. My savings are meant for the future and paying off loans for my education, while my checking account is used for food or other basic necessities. Lastly, throughout the year the gifts I gave to friends and family were often homemade to avoid spending and to add a personal touch. As I go throughout college I plan to budget. I plan to sacrifice living someplace more comfortable or close to campus if it means an affordable rent, and I plan to spend carefully when it comes to food and other household necessities. I know these strategies will pay off in the future as I will hopefully easily pay off any debt and will be able to start my career as a computer scientist.

As I finish my education, I plan to enter the field of programming. My hope is to join a company that services others. Technology will always be impacting all communities, so I want to take a step further and focus on the inside of tech companies, not just the people on the outside receiving the products. I view myself as a leader, and I can use that skill to mold the community around me for the better. I would like to make my environment more open to female engineers, as I know from personal experience that it can often be difficult for women in this field. I would want to also use those skills to try to inspire young women to consider engineering careers because I believe that having a diverse and inclusive environment is what makes a community thrive.

Secondly, what I really hope to do is make a lasting impact on the world around me. Although I am not sure what that might be yet, I am extremely passionate and hard working in everything I do. As I move through my career, I will be constantly looking for opportunities for myself. I hope to use my knowledge from my education to create something new that will ultimately help the world around me. Residents living in San Francisco encounter many problems around the city, from unaffordable housing to homelessness to a broken education system. Although computer science does not directly affect these things, I would like to find a way to use my skills to help combat these problems, by perhaps using my skills to create an affordable place to take college classes or an application that does the work of realty for you and can help you find an affordable place to live. There are so many ways in which a person can better the world or even just better the city they live in. I believe that with my education, leadership, and passion I will be one of those people. It is only a matter of picking one problem at a time to solve.

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