GREATER LANDOVER, Md. — More than meets the eye: A DMV native, who's a computer scientist and a third-year cheerleader for the Washington Redskins, has been chosen as this year’s Pro Bowl cheerleader. The 2019 NFL Pro Bowl takes place Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
Candess received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Maryland, College Park. For safety reasons, Redskins' cheerleaders are not permitted to share their last names. When she is not on the field, she is a full-time software engineer.
The field of computer science lacks diversity. As of the 2016-17 academic year, less than one in five computer science majors at the University of Maryland were women. A lesser fraction of those were black.
"Sometimes, when it does get really hard, I think, 'Hey, if I jump out of this career field, the low percentage of black female software engineers will never grow,'" she said.
Candess managed to finish her degree while also being a member of the UMD's dance team. When graduation approached, she decided she was not ready to give up her passion for dance.
"You don't have to give up dance when you're 18. You can continue to do it as a profession, in addition to other things like motherhood, career, and marriage if you want that," she said.
Candess' exemplary performance on and off the of the field is what led her team to choose her as their representative for the 2019 Pro Bowl. It's an honor for a cheerleader to be chosen by her fellow peers to take a role during the Pro Bowl game as a representative for their team. In Candess’ case, she'll be part of the NFC cheerleading squad.
The duality of her careers gives her a platform that most do not have. She said she wants to use her platform to be an inspiration to others.
"These past few years, I've realized that everything I do is going to mean something to somebody. Whether it's good or bad, but I want to make sure that it's good," she said.