She feels most comfortable in front of a computer

Ahya Speaker is studying computer science at Lee College.

“Public speaking is a huge challenge for me. I get a lot of anxiety from it. To be honest, the pressure kind of crumbles me.

“I’m much more comfortable working on computers. I’ve loved computers ever since middle school. It’s interesting to know how they work, how they’re designed and how to solve problems by using them. There are so many things you can do with computers.

“My goal is to work with security systems. I feel like security needs some improvement in this country. I just think about invasion of privacy. I’ve heard so many stories about people’s private information being released out into the world. What’s going on these days is really scary. I’d like to be able to help do something about that.”

— Ahya Speaker, 19