CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — It may have been a gloomy day in Chesapeake Tuesday, but for one Grassfield High School senior, a little rain won’t steal her sunshine.

“It’s amazing,” said Destany Pearl. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Pearl was recently named an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship recipient and will receive up to $40,000 over four years to pursue a college degree in computer science, which is right up her alley.

“I actually do a cyber security program here with CCC at a career center, and through that cybersecurity program, I work with computers I call the hands-on. And at the beginning of this year, I worked on the computer science aspect, like the programing aspect. And I found I really loved that, so I decided I was going to major in computer science.”

Pearl is one of 400 students across the U.S. to receive the award. In addition, she will get a paid internship with Amazon after her freshman year of college so she can get hands-on work experience.

“It was a defining factor between, like, am I going to have to go to [Tidewater Community College] and then do a college,” Pearl said. “Am I going to be able to go to college without student loans? And it’s like the final gift.”

Recipients of the award are judged based on a variety of criteria such as academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and computer activities, future goals and financial need.

Pearl’s parents were ecstatic about the award, but it took some convincing.

“They were like, this is not real,” she said. “This is your joke, and you’re making it up. But then they went to the one future engineer website. I saw my name on the thing and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, you actually won the scholarship.’ It was a big celebration and they’re extremely happy about it.”

Pearl has chosen to stay in town and attend Norfolk State University, helped in part by a big delivery from Amazon.