Meet Three of Our 2026 Scholarship Finalists

By the SEUT Board | August 2026

Last week we introduced Marcus Castillo, the winner of this year's $2,000 SEUT Scholarship. But a contest that drew more than 900 applications produced far more than one standout voice. Today we're spotlighting three of our 2026 finalists, Deborah Joshi Samuel, Rilyn Rodgers, and Allizon Carrera, whose essays took on responsible technology from three very different angles: AI in the classroom, disaster response, and cybersecurity ethics.

Deborah Joshi Samuel Babu

Melbourne Central Catholic High School, Melbourne, Florida | Junior

Helping Students Use AI Responsibly

My commitment to technology ethics began with my little brother and a simple sheet of fourth-grade math homework. One afternoon, my mom handed him a worksheet, and he finished it unbelievably fast. Every answer was correct. We celebrated until we realized he hadn't solved a single problem himself. He had quietly typed each question into ChatGPT and copied the answer. He wasn't trying to cheat; he genuinely thought this was just another smart tool, like a calculator. But watching him cross that line unintentionally showed me how easily AI can replace thinking if we don't learn to use it responsibly.

I conducted two research studies on responsible AI use with a university professor. My first study, now under first revision at the Journal of Services Marketing, examined how 42 college students use AI in their learning. We found that most students aren't trying to cheat, they're trying to figure out how to use AI ethically. When students learn to question AI-generated answers, compare multiple responses, and engage in multi-turn dialogue rather than copying the first output, their understanding deepens and academic dishonesty decreases.

My second study, under first revision at the Journal of Consumer Affairs, looked at the emotional side of AI use. Through interviews with 45 heavy AI users, we discovered that feelings such as comfort, guilt, anxiety, and pride influence responsible behavior more than rules do. Friendly, human-like AI can make users overly trusting, while small moments of uncertainty or friction can actually encourage people to double-check information and act more responsibly. I call this effect "affective accountability," and it has shaped how I think about designing AI systems that naturally guide users toward honest, thoughtful choices.

These studies are the backbone of everything I do outside of school. I founded my school's Responsible AI Club, so students have a space to talk openly about these challenges: how to check facts, how to phrase disclosures, when to rely on AI, and when to push themselves instead. I mentor students who build apps and tools, showing them how to think ethically about design choices. And I work with teachers to help create clearer AI guidelines so students don't fall into the same confusing gray areas my brother did.

This May, I'll present part of my research at the Academy of Marketing Science Conference. To me, that moment won't just be about sharing results; it will be about showing how a single moment at home sparked a path toward helping others use AI more responsibly. My goal is simple: I want AI to help students think better, not think less.

Rilyn Rodgers

Vidalia Heritage Academy, Toombs County, Georgia | Senior

Responsible AI in Disaster Response

The first time I saw how powerful technology could be, cell service in my county was down and rumors were spreading faster than factual information. After Hurricane Helene, our local Emergency Management Agency needed someone to build and manage its social media and website platforms in real time. I stepped in, created and ran the agency's digital accounts, and posted verified shelter locations, road closures, and emergency instructions. That work was later recognized with a formal resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives, but what stayed with me was something else. Technology can either calm chaos or make it worse.

Since then, I have thought more critically about how digital tools are used. In building the county EMA's online presence, I developed a process centered on accuracy, transparency, and accountability. I confirmed information directly with emergency officials before publishing. I added timestamps so residents could see what was current. I corrected mistakes publicly rather than quietly deleting posts. I was not just sharing updates. I was protecting public trust at a moment when false information could have cost lives.

Beyond emergency management, I have worked to promote responsible technology use in my school and community. I have led discussions with peers about verifying sources before reposting and about how automated recommendation systems influence what people see and believe. As I work toward a degree in international affairs and later law school, I want to focus on technology, government, and public accountability. New digital systems are developing faster than public policy. Questions about data privacy, discriminatory outcomes in automated decision systems, surveillance, and misinformation affect elections, emergency response, and access to opportunity.

At Harvard Model Congress, I debated legislation addressing data privacy protections and oversight of automated decision making systems. I worked with other delegates to revise bill language so it balanced innovation with civil liberties. Drafting amendments and defending regulatory language in committee required me to consider enforcement mechanisms, reporting requirements, and unintended consequences. That experience strengthened my interest in shaping practical technology policy.

In college, I would like to establish a student organization focused on technology ethics and public policy. I want to host forums where students in computer science, political science, and business can examine real case studies involving automated systems, data misuse, and digital privacy. Ethical decision making improves when multiple perspectives are involved. Engineers, policymakers, and future attorneys must learn to collaborate before they enter the workforce.

My goal is not to slow technological progress. It is to ensure that innovation remains grounded in responsibility. I have seen firsthand how digital platforms can shape public behavior in a crisis. Moving forward, I want to help build systems where transparency, fairness, and accountability are foundations, not afterthoughts.

Allizon Carrera

Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Westwego, Louisiana | Sophomore

Ethics in Cybersecurity

"We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us," wrote Jesuit priest and media scholar, Father John M. Culkin in 1947. As technology continues to improve, the truth within our flawed systems starts to peek out, from data breaches which expose millions of people's sensitive information, to artificial intelligence starting to overtake humanity's essence and what it means to be human. Inspiring my focus on the ethics of technology, especially cybersecurity and responsible technology, I believe that the most important question to take into consideration is not what technology can do but who is responsible for what it creates or does. Especially understanding how each piece of technology works underneath the surface.

Through a cybersecurity summer camp I learned that cybersecurity, while on the surface may seem like a technical display with its firewalls and encryption, is actually an ethical tool for humanity. Technological vulnerabilities are not only a failure of a system but the reflection of a real person's privacy being violated and the values of the people running it. There are choices in the landscape of technology, from who can access it, who is protected, and who runs the risk. This realization has only opened my eyes on how easily technology can be misused, as well as further pushing me to start taking responsibility of my actions as well as my digital footprint.

And as my understanding of technology started to grow, my values and stances started to change and a sprout of wanting to help others started to also develop. Because knowledge without any action is incomplete, and I firmly believe that technology ethics cannot only live and work in classrooms but have to travel to spread their work. Coming from a school about technology, we are expected to uphold responsible ethics with our technology use. So I've recently started advocating for more involvement with these ethics at my school. Currently, I'm in my school's coding and technology club, where I actively engage in advocating for stronger ethics in both my school's policies and the government.

My goal is to make cybersecurity feel less intimidating and more approachable. And one thing I've learned from promoting these ethics is that it's about empowerment through knowledge rather than giving out orders or telling people what to do. In the future, since I am very drawn to both technology and law, I plan to further my impact by creating projects, participating in protests, and even laws that focus on cybersecurity, especially on ethical design and user protection. My second goal is to build tools for society which respect the rights of people and not just another solution to their life. I also hope to develop education programs or local workshops which teach about the basics of cybersecurity, giving society the knowledge to defend itself from the constantly evolving cyber threats.

Ultimately, I believe that ethical technology use begins the moment we decide to open any piece of technology from a phone to a calculator. It starts with small actions.

What Ties Them Together

Different schools, different grade levels, different corners of the tech ethics conversation, but the same underlying instinct: each of these students noticed a moment where a tool could just as easily help or harm, and chose to build something in response instead of just reacting.

Congratulations to Deborah, Rilyn, and Allizon, and to all of this year's finalists. If their work resonates with you, or you're a student building something similar in your own community, we'd love to hear from you.