Sterling Alic has always had an immense love of learning and has taken every opportunity to further his education. He attended iPreparatory Academy for high school, Miami-Dade County Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s flagship school for curriculum innovation, technology, and real-world career experiences. There, he flourished in the school’s blended learning and self-paced curriculum, enrolling in classes across three languages (Spanish, French, and Mandarin) in addition to pursuing accelerated coursework in math and science.
In the summer of 2016, he participated in MOSTEC (MIT Online Science Technology and Engineering Community), a rigorous academic summer program in which students take advanced courses online for six weeks and then present their work at a 5-day conference at MIT. Throughout the program, he studied robotics and science writing, culminating in a final project (a physical autonomous robot) and final paper (in which he interviewed a CalTech professor and wrote a science article on quantum computing with a focus on applications to cybersecurity).
However, as he will be the first in his family to attend college, Sterling knows first-hand how a quality education can change the course of someone’s life. Thus, in addition to pursuing a career in technology, he has sought to improve equal access to education for all through volunteering and fundraising with educational initiatives. This continued commitment to education and public service landed him a spot as one of two delegates representing the state of Florida in the United States Senate Youth Program, a week-long intensive study of government through which he met and learned from public officials serving in the most prominent positions of government, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Secretary of State, and the President.
Sterling is now attending Stanford University, where he is majoring in Computer Science. He is the president of Stanford Jump Rope, a collegiate jump rope team through which he has competed at the national and international levels, performed in on-campus and local shows, and hosted jump rope workshops for K-12 students. He also practices capoeira––a Brazilian martial art that combines elements dance, acrobatics, and music—as a member of Capoeira Narahari, and has performed in demos on campus. Outside of performance groups, he has served as a summer volunteer for the High School Support Initiative, where he assists with college prep workshops for local first generation and/or low-income high school students.
After college, he hopes to pursue a career in technology and/or education.
