- The biggest thing that really affected
the decision for me to come to Tech
was the fact that the SPS program
was exactly what it sounds like, a program.
At other schools, similar programs only offer money.
But at Georgia Tech, they offer an entire program
that you can get involved with.
There's an entire alumni network
and there's an alumni network
that extends just outside the school as well.
- My older sister was SPS,
and so I kind of lived vicariously through her
as a high schooler and I saw all of the opportunities
that were available to her through the program
and through that community,
and I really wanted to be a part of it.
- Georgia Tech and the SPS program offer you faculty guides
that guide you through your scholarship.
I meet with them whenever I want,
they give me life advice and career advice,
and they've helped me start a program
that I've been running.
- One of the incredible benefits of this scholarship program
is the community, the peers that I'm surrounded with.
Because if, at midnight, I have this crazy idea
and I want to call somebody, I can.
The ability to be challenged
and to have incredible debate with somebody else
is something that's truly incredible here at this school.
- Well, I always knew I wanted to do engineering
and I grew up in Atlanta,
so Georgia Tech was always on my radar.
They gave me an opportunity to interview
for the Stamps President's Scholarship program.
And when I showed up for that interview,
I was blown away with not only
how professional everything was,
but with how much the interviewers
and some of the upperclassmen students wanted to help me
when people said, "Oh, you should prototype that
"at the Invention Studio," or,
"You should join one of the car teams
"at the Student Competition Center,
"that'd be perfect for you."
- I was able to travel to Lusaka, Zambia,
this past spring break with some enrichment funds from SPS,
which was incredible,
and was able to help with an implementation
of these toilet systems in a small village
right outside of Lusaka.
And I was able to meet some of the local people.
And my job as part of Wish for WASH
is looking at the business development side,
so looking at who's gonna pay for this toilet,
how are we gonna have income?
But, really, being on the ground and meeting these people
and seeing their needs was such a transformative experience.
- [Kaitlin] I got to go to Uganda last summer
and work at an NGO
and experience an entirely new culture
and actually start my Grand Challenges project.
The project is mentoring girls
to encourage them to go into STEM,
so it's amazing that I get the opportunity
to work in Atlanta and in another country.
- So, I used my enrichment funds
in a slightly unorthodox way,
and we had the idea to try to build
a hybrid-electric car from the ground up
that proved this powertrain that I had been developing
kind of in notebooks and in the back of my mind
for a couple years.
We designed for a few months
and then we got a couple professors onboard
and then we applied to use the enrichment funds
to build this car.
And a year-and-a-half later,
we have a car that's put together.
Overall, it's been, by far,
the most useful academic experience
I've had at school so far.
- The enrichment grants have been an essential part
of the process that I've been involved with
at Georgia Tech so far.
I've used the money not only to travel to conferences
to discuss things about leadership,
but I'm hoping to, in the future,
plan a trip to Antarctica
along with a couple other SPS peers
so we can explore the research opportunities
that are presented there.
- [Benjamin] Every year, before the freshmen come in,
they go on a retreat and they also go on an expedition
to somewhere really cool.
My freshman year, I went to Scotland.
And not only did I get to see
this beautiful highland country,
I got to be really close with this group
of 12 Stamps Scholars that became some of my best friends.
And then, when I entered school the next week,
I felt so much more comfortable
about the whole social situation of entering college.
- I have met my best friends through this program.
We've worked on projects through Grand Challenges together
and we're thinking of starting our own company together.
So, it's a really great place where you can meet
a lot of people that will have similar ideas to you
and can help you grow as a person.
- I am incredibly honored to be part of a program
that reinforces this already-ingrained
Georgia Tech mentality to create,
to build something with your own hands and, most of all,
to go after whatever interests you in a relentless fashion.
- This program is truly a gift.
It is something that will shape you in so many ways
that you can't even comprehend.
I don't even know where I would be
at Georgia Tech without this program.
This program will provide you with incredible friendships
and incredible mentors that will truly continue to push you
well past your years at Georgia Tech.