Leo Genota

Passion for Coding Pays Off

Leo Genota has been making the most of his computer science education at Bowie State University, where he first learned he had a knack for creating code. He honed his skills with internships with Northrop Grumman and the FBI and in regional hackathons with Bowie State’s student Cyber Squad. Now, the graduating senior has landed a job as a software engineer with a government contractor.

Genota is one of 700 students set to graduate as part of Bowie State’s first-ever virtual commencement celebration on Friday, June 26 at 3 p.m. View the commencement celebration at bowiestate.edu/commencement.

As a freshman in the Honors Program, Genota never knew he would fall in love with computer science, until he took his first BSU class in it that year. After that, he was hooked. He decided to change his major.

“My passion comes from the ability to create something practically from nothing. In my time at Bowie State, the code we would write would be from scratch,” he said. “We’d start with a problem set and think up a solution to solve it using code. To see it work in the end, using current technology, is very interesting and intriguing.”

Last summer, he started a yearlong internship at Northrop Grumman, building secure applications as a cyber software engineer. Before that, he had a web development internship with the FBI. His ultimate goal is to become a full stack software engineer, specializing in the development of both the front-end user experience and the back-end application. After graduation, Genota will begin his career at Falls Technology in Herndon, Virginia.

“Having the opportunity to take on these internships, and even participating in Cyber Squad, where I could touch on different aspects of computer science has provided me with a foundation and a way into my career,” he said.