Jacob Perakis

Jacob Perakis

Computer Science, 2021

“This scholarship made it possible for my family to send me, my brother, and my sister to college for an affordable price. We are on track to be the first in our family to complete a college degree.”

A sophomore in the Department of Computer Science, Jacob Perakis is attending the University of Illinois with his brother and sister. As a triplet, Jacob’s brother is also a future Grainger Engineer, while his sister is pursuing a degree in biology. Receiving an Engineering Visionary Scholarship was instrumental in Jacob’s decision to attend The Grainger College of Engineering. He shares that receiving scholarship support “made it more affordable to attend such a prestigious school along with my siblings. Receiving an Engineering Visionary Scholarship was actually the major factor that influenced my decision to enroll at Engineering—no other school was as generous.”

Jacob’s favorite class so far has been CS 126, Software Design Studio, because it “was the first class where I finally felt confident in my coding abilities.” Jacob is heavily involved in student organizations. He is a member of 100 Strong with the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, the National Society of Black Engineers, and Blacks and African Americans in Computing. In his free time Jacob loves playing soccer—and eating sushi!

Jacob is happy to be an Illini and shares, “the engineering program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is simply the best in the nation. I have never been more satisfied with my decision.”