Abigail Juozapaitis

Hometown: North Prairie, Wis.
Major/emphasis and minor: Computer science and Spanish major with a mathematics minor.
Internships served: None yet at Lakeland, but I had an internship as a student at Mukwonago Area School District as an IT intern.
Campus involvement: Women's tennis team, National Society of Leadership and Success, Ladies of Virtue, intramural bowling, STEM club, Badminton Club, Active Minds, I work at the LU fitness center, I also work as a Campus Ambassador. I am enrolled in the Honors Program at Lakeland.
Dream job: I would like to be a software developer and eventually a project manager.

Why did you decide to attend Lakeland University? I felt welcomed from the instant I stepped on campus. I had the opportunity to pursue tennis, which has always been a passion of mine. I also met with Cindy Lindstrom, who really made me feel like the Lakeland computer science department was a good fit for me. I felt like getting the opportunity to work with her on a one-on-one basis would help me in my career path in the future. She also started out in the business world and then entered computer science, and was successful in both. I thought I would gain a lot of knowledge from her and be better prepared leaving Lakeland than I would at other schools. I never wanted to attend a big school and feel washed out, and I feel like being here allows me to be involved in many opportunities I wouldn't receive at other schools.

What is one thing you want everyone to know about Lakeland University? Lakeland allows you to build connections with everyone you meet and really allows its students to start off on the right foot. I am supported through multiple people whether that be success coaches, academic advisers, professors or even friends. Everything truly does feel like a community when you are on campus. The love, support and success I have received from this school keeps me motivated and allows me to recognize how prepared I am to enter the work force after my Lakeland experience.

How do you want to impact someone else's life as a young professional? I am going into the computer science field, which is mostly male dominated. I want to empower young women looking into computer science as a career option and help them realize that they can be successful in these male-dominated fields. I really want to bring new ideas into computer science, because I think I have a creative edge will allow for new takes on common problems. I also think utilizing Spanish will set me apart. Because computer science is such a growing field, people from all different backgrounds are going into it. I hope to eliminate language barriers for myself in the workplace and prove that I have efficient communication skills. It's a very common theme within the computer science industry to be good at technical aspects of the job, but lack in communication skills. I want to prove that both skills can be mastered, and when they are, it's an unstoppable combination.

How will the Gala scholarship impact your future? I am independently paying for my college education, so this scholarship money helps me out significantly. Not only does this money help, the experience I gained through applying, preparing and having the interviews for this scholarship will allow me to feel confident in any interviews I encounter in my future.