2022 Alexandria Real Estate STEM Scholarship Recipients
Spark* and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) are excited to introduce ARE’s 2022 scholarship recipients: Angela Hu, Jazmine Guzman de Anda, and Joanne Huang!
ARE scholarships are awarded in the amount of $5,000 annually, for up to four years, to each student while they attend either a two- or four-year program at a community college or a college/university of their choice to study one of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
Congratulations!
Angela Hu
At nine years old Angela Hu enjoyed playing games on her iPod Touch, a hobby that grew into a desire to understand how things work. During her time as a student at Lowell High School, her constant thirst for knowledge led to an internship at Code Tenderloin and attendance at district board meetings where she learned about policy change. With her interests varied and her curiosity piqued, Angela wondered how it was all connected. After an internship at Big Data at Berkeley, she had her answer: data! Whether it was examining a brain scan, or statistics on student test scores in the district, organized information was at the core of every sector Angela investigated.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Angela combined her fascination with data with the technological skills gained during her internships to create a website that tracked COVID cases. Concerned for the health of her family and community, she wanted to develop a resource that made useful information accessible, and shared the website with her family, friends, and school. Angela is proud that she was able to provide this information to help people stay safe and informed.
As she prepares to take the next step in her educational journey at UC San Diego in the fall, where she will major in data science, Angela looks forward to growing her abilities and exploring varied course offerings, while learning alongside, and from, her peers. After graduating, Angela hopes to become a software engineer, specializing in data science.
"Knowing the impact of technology, I seek to build software that makes daily tasks more convenient for me and the people around me."
-Angela Hu
Class of 2022, Lowell High School
Jazmine Guzman de Anda
"I have a fondness for engineering because of the huge technological impact I can make by helping underserved, low-income, Latinx communities...It is necessary to help democratize technology so that underserved communities like mine strengthen their educational opportunities."
-Jazmine Guzman de Anda
Class of 2022, John O'Connell High School
During the summer before her senior year at John O’Connell High School, Jazmine Guzman de Anda participated (virtually) in Stanford University's STEM to SHTEM (H = Humanities) research program which provided her with a glimpse into the challenges and rewards of a college education. Jazmine found herself surrounded by renowned scientists who held students to high standards, and she dedicated more than 40 hours a week to the curriculum and expectations, seeing both as a path towards her future aspirations. She pushed herself to understand quantum physics, took notes on ion migration, and learned joule heating and the external quantum efficiency of lightbulbs. After completing the course’s final collaborative project, Jazmine felt pride in her research, personal growth, and academic capabilities.
Jazmine also has an extreme curiosity to understand how homes and buildings play a pivotal role in society overall, and her community specifically. Urban planning is an element of civil engineering that she is interested in exploring to help understand local issues San Francisco faces such as gentrification and displacement.
This fall, Jazmine will return to Stanford University, this time as an enrolled student attending classes on campus. She hopes to major in engineering and be a role model for first-generation Latinas interested in pursuing studies or careers in the STEM fields. Whether it be helping students with code as a software engineer, or designing homes as a civil engineer, Jazmine wants her contributions to make a difference.
Joanne Huang
While a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, Joanne Huang joined the school’s ACE (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) pathway, and during her third year in the program she had the opportunity to participate in the San Francisco Architectural Foundation Competition. She credits this design challenge with encouraging her to envision how her knowledge, abilities, and creativity could address community issues. It was both a meaningful and educational experience for Joanne to contribute ideas on how to improve our shared spaces and promote collective engagement.
In addition to studying architecture, Joanne enrolled in numerous science classes (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology) which led to a passion for natural science, and an appreciation for hands-on work and opportunities for problem solving. As a first-generation student, the ACE pathway provided Joanne with resources and support academically and she credits her teacher, Ms. Melander, whose guidance and encouragement throughout the years allowed Joanne to believe she could pursue a higher education in STEM.
At Loyola University Chicago Joanne plans to major in forensic science, and will specialize in DNA and fingerprint analysis. She believes a career in forensic science will allow her to meaningfully contribute to society by helping families of victims receive justice and provide public safety by participating in research that could further advance current technology to aid in solving crime.
"As a woman, the lack of representation in male-dominated fields like STEM has always been brought to my attention...I would like to be a role model for other young girls and advocate for more females in various fields."
-Joanne Huang
Class of 2022, Abraham Lincoln High School