Playing computer games wasn’t enough for Carlos Castillo. He wanted to be the one creating them — so that’s just what he did, and that was when he was in middle school.

Around that time, his mother was struck with cancer, making him even more determined to excel at computer design, so he could make her proud of him.

His determination to succeed in the years since, along with emotional support from his sister Samantha Castillo and staff at Shepard High School in Palos Heights, helped him win the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, which comes with up to $40,000, as well as a paid internship at Amazon. He was one of 22 Illinois students to win out of the total 400 winners.

“Around middle school, I really wasn’t good at a lot of things,” said Carlos, now a senior at Shepard. “So I took an interest in trying to make things and the computer was a perfect recipient for all that.”

But Carlos said he was surprised when he got the message that he had won the scholarship.

Of course he had done the groundwork to be competitive in the competition. He took a semester of web site design and coding, as well as both AP computer and science classes. He’s also been a member of the school’s Gaming Club and Business Professionals of America.

He participated in a 50-person Flowlab competition, where he developed a video game in two weeks and won honorable mention.

“My mother was very proud of that one,” recalled Carlos.

When his mother got sick and subsequently died, he made that extra effort.

“I found myself hammering away trying to do something big,” said Carlos. “I really wanted to have my name out there before she passed away.”

He said the computer field required a strong foundation in math and he “hit that one out of the park.” He mainly works with a computer language called C++, an “object-oriented programming language.” He received national recognition for his C++ programming skills in a Business Professionals of America competition.

But he also loves reading and writing. He plans to attend Illinois State University in the fall and major in engineering.

Carlos has also found time to work part-time stocking shelves and bagging groceries at an area grocery store.

And he’s gotten more than book learning from his high school.

“One of the best things Shepard has provided me is just mainly resources of support,” he said. “The counselors and teachers were great at helping me through the loss.”

Samantha Castillo, Carlos’ sister, a physical education teacher at Shepard, said she remembered her brother being creative since he was a child.

“Growing up, he was very creative in a natural sense, he loved to create things whether building with Legos or drawing,” she said. “But once he was able to learn and hone in on computer development and game development skills, that is when my mother and I knew we had found a knack for him.”

Castillo said she was proud of his resilience and dedication.

“We have been through a lot as a small family,” she said. “It was always just me, him and my mom, so her loss was pretty profound in our lives. To us, it really is a demonstration of his character and ability to overcome these things.”

She also said she knew their mom would be “incredibly proud of him.”

“I know I am definitely very proud of him,” she said.

That sense of pride is shared by Jane Turner, his counselor.

“I think he is a very kind, patient young man and he sets very high expectations of himself,” Turner said. “I’m very excited for his future and very proud of him for overcoming very difficult circumstances during his high school years and still shining through some difficult times.

“He’s a real class act.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.