Oceanside student Isaiah Youngblood has received the STEAM Scholarship from National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) for his dedication to engineering and determination to continue learning despite limited access to formal programs and equipment.
Isaiah’s interest in how things work began when he was five years old and took apart his brother’s Lego creations before rebuilding them piece by piece. His curiosity later shifted to airplanes. Because his parents lived in different places, Isaiah frequently flew between their homes and spent those flights studying the aircraft’s flaps and engines from his window. Whenever the cockpit door opened, he tried to catch a glimpse of the controls. These experiences eventually inspired him to pursue aerospace engineering.
Much of Isaiah’s early engineering education took place at the library rather than in a classroom. Because his family could not afford robotics kits or extensive engineering programs, he relied on books, videos, and free online resources. After researching the components of a computer, he took apart an old PC and saw firsthand how its motherboard, fans, and wires worked together.
Isaiah’s mother encouraged him to continue seeking opportunities, including applying for a scholarship from the Lindsey Vonn Foundation. Through that experience, he learned HTML and CSS and began building independent projects. Watching his ideas appear on a computer screen helped make engineering feel achievable.
He later earned a scholarship to attend the TryEngineering summer camp at the University of San Diego. There, Isaiah worked with other students on engineering challenges and gained confidence in his ability to succeed in the field.
After moving to Oceanside, Isaiah continued searching for ways to expand his education. Once he completed the two introductory engineering courses available at his school, he enrolled in an information technology course through dual enrollment and earned an internship at the Oceanside Public Library through a MiraCosta College program.
At the library, Isaiah sets up workstations, troubleshoots technical problems, and manages system settings using Google Admin tools. The experience has shown him how community members depend on reliable technology to complete schoolwork, apply for jobs, and learn new skills. It also taught him that engineering and technology include maintaining the everyday systems that help communities function.
Isaiah continues to study aerospace engineering independently through books, videos, and online resources. He plans to major in aerospace engineering and study the systems that allow aircraft and spacecraft to operate safely and efficiently. His long-term goal is to help design aircraft and flight systems that advance aviation and space technology.
“I’ve built every opportunity from the resources I had, and that’s what engineering is: solving problems when your tools are limited,” Isaiah wrote in his scholarship essay.
Isaiah’s resourcefulness and commitment to engineering earned him the NSHSS STEAM Scholarship, which recognizes students pursuing education and careers in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.
About National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS): NSHSS is the premier honors and scholarship program co-founded by Claes Nobel of the Nobel Prize family and James Lewis. NSHSS offers a lifetime of benefits, pairing the highest performing students worldwide with college scholarships, events, connections, internships, and career opportunities that begin in high school and carry on through college and career. For more information, visit https://www.nshss.org/.
