An Inventor with Heart: Bennett’s Story

Self-proclaimed inventor Bennett doesn’t just love solving problems - he’s on a mission to use invention to save lives. He plans to spend his time at Santa Clara University to develop a machine learning traffic safety camera that automatically reports road hazards. His greatest influences - his mom and grandpa - inspired his work ethic and desire to help others on a larger scale.

College: Santa Clara University, studying Business Management with Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence

• What inspired you to pursue a career in STEM or a trade, and what excites you most about this path?

  I love STEM with an unfaltering passion where every problem has reasoning and a solution waiting to be discovered.

• How do you see this scholarship helping you achieve your career goals, and what difference do you hope to make in your field?

  I am an inventor. l actively pursue issues I face in life with an intrigue like no other with the goal of creating a solution that benefits, eases the issue or solves it altogether. Growing up in a split family and with an education in Spanish and English has given me the skill to view life through different lenses, whether language, leadership, science or service, I am able to think of how to solve a problem backwards, forwards, upside down and inside out and promptly deploy the skills necessary to accomplish it. From having engaged in mission service trips to build homes for those in need while also translating for 30 monolingual volunteers, to becoming a Link Crew leader in middle and high school and being a helping hand for over 1,000 new underclassmen as they enter new schools, I have always loved volunteering and won't ever stop.

• Who has been your biggest supporter or role model throughout your education?

  So what if it’s cheesy to say my mom! She raised me to be a responsible, moral, independent and driven adult. She found herself in several holes: her family not being able to pay for college, being a single mother with two toddlers, her parents with major accidents and health issues needing her help. My mom stands tall, steps up to help others with hard situations, stays positive and gives 110% to get out of the holes, plant trees and grow from the experiences. Mom worked to achieve her dreams: college at Stanford, raising a strong family, while still attending to those around her. I have seen firsthand that life sometimes throws the unexpected. I have taken away the lesson of: keep going and never giving up. I value education, learning from mistakes, and caring for others. She has truly shaped her own path and become a role model for not just me, but inspires all of those she takes under her wing and has created a safe, supportive and encouraging place for all of my friends and everyone around her. She has always instilled the importance of education, integrity, good morals, compassion and kindness. She has inspired me to do the same: stand tall, figure it out, give 110% and improve the lives of others around me as I go through life.

  I also have to say my Grandpa “Buck,” who started as a college student working in the Peace Corps. After a semi-truck collision left him critically injured in the ICU, my grandpa overcame and continued serving everyone. Buck inspires me because he has driven many projects changing the world. Piloting projects and rolling them out across continents, he set up hospital systems in developing countries and a 911 response system across South America. He fostered abandoned kids from Sierra Leone and aided refugee families fleeing war zones. Even at age 80, he set up a re-entry pilot training program at our state prison to help drive successful education, jobs, and re-engagement with families to break the prison cycle. He changes the trajectory of millions of lives, both locally and globally. Buck inspires me to be hardworking, kindhearted, an upstanding member of society, and help anyone no matter the significance of their need. I have the ability to help at a local level, but I can also think big to positively influence millions of lives.

• What are you most excited about as you begin your college or trade school journey?

  Combining my passions for helping others and STEM is my life-saving patented invention that l intend to pursue in college, a machine learning traffic safety camera that automatically reports road hazards and saves lives. College is no easy feat, and no small cost, but a scholarship to me would mean investing in the future (without the yearly 46,000 traffic-related deaths and 5.2 million injuries in the US, not to mention the countless more abroad), one where I resolve to make a difference in any way I can.

• What’s one fun fact about you that people might not expect from someone pursuing a career in your field?

  I’m fluent in Spanish.

  I am solving problems and inventing solutions all the time to everyday problems. Some could work, some wouldn't.

• If you could instantly learn any skill before starting college or trade school, what would it be?

  Learning every coding language would be really useful. I appreciate those who do it - it is needed!

• If you had an entire day to do whatever you wanted—no school or work—how would you spend it?

  Exploring somewhere I haven't explored before.