Eisenhower senior Melanija Ilijevski loves everything about computer science.

“I fell in love with it years ago and plan to build my career around it,” she said. “I love building things with code and animation. I love the atmosphere of being a software engineer – the critical thinking that goes with it and the group collaboration that occurs when you have a team working together.”

It is this obvious love that has led Ilijevski to be among a handful of Michigan students to receive the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing High School Award. The award honors students for their computing-related achievements and interests while encouraging them to pursue their passions.

For Ilijevski, that passion for computer science was fed in her junior high school computer science courses and continued through Eisenhower High School, where she founded the school’s “Hack Club" and has created an App that is available for a video game she and her sister created, called Brickball.

“I have really been inspired from courses I have taken and the projects we have built,” she said. “I would say the course rigor here has definitely propelled me into majoring in what I want to do, especially the engineering classes.”

Her teachers agree she is passionate about learning.

“Melanija is the rarest of students, “ said Eisenhower Chemistry teacher Melissa Minton. “She is curious, enthusiastic, and will work tirelessly to achieve any goal set before her! There is no quit in that mind and even she said, ‘senioritis has not hit - I’m on the grind and ready for these AP tests.’” 

To earn the aspirations honor, Ilijevski submitted a biography, four essays about computer science and a portfolio of projects.

Her next step is to attend the University of Michigan, where she is studying computer science, on her way to a career as a software engineer.