When Sam was 14, his family moved from the Philippines to the United States with the hope of building a better life. Sam’s parents worked tirelessly to provide for their family, affording Sam the opportunity to graduate from Centennial High School and attend HCC on a National Science Foundation scholarship. Having always been fascinated by technology, Sam was a natural fit for the college’s STEM Scholars program, which opened his mind to the world of engineering. Although he works four jobs to pay for his education, Sam has been a model student, and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland to study computer engineering.