Windsor student gets $80k scholarship to pursue computer science degree

A grade 12 student at Vincent Massey Secondary School with a passion for computer science now has an $80,000 leg up to pursue a career in the field.

"I think a big part of it is I now get to be in a network of, like, other leaders and like-minded individuals," said Schulich Leader Scholarship recipient Anish Aggarwal.

The scholarship will allow him to pursue a computer science degree at the University of Waterloo.

Aggarwal founded and runs "Code Reach," a program which introduces elementary school students to coding. He said that what really solidified the fact he wanted to pursue a career in the computer science field was his experience in computer science club in Grade 9.

"Being able to code something and actually see it come alive... it was fun for me," Aggarwal said.  

That experience led him to attend a number of events outside of the classroom. 

"What I'm passionate about [is] I like to go outside of the classroom a lot, so I will do different hack-a-thons, different competitions, extra-curricular math camps," he said. "My biggest thing, I think was, I went to MIT for the virtual reality hack-a-thon. So there were a bunch of these events that really had a big impact on me." 

His mother, Seema Aggarwal, said she and the entire family are proud of his accomplishments.

She said he's a very hard working person and passionate about what he does.

"He gives 100 per cent... and [is] very competitive," Seema said.

As far as his long-term goals, she said he wants to own a big company one day.

"He wants to be, you know, [one of] the big wigs out there," she said. "I have my feelings he will be able to achieve that."