I had always been curious about technology, taking apart computers with a screwdriver and a hammer from age 7(don’t tell my parents; I’m not sure if they know about that yet). In 2020, my mom mentioned to me that there was a three-week online summer program with Girls Who Code, where I would sit at my laptop every day from 9-3 and learn how to write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Sounds like a fantastic way to spend three weeks of your pandemic summer, right? Wrong, I dreaded it, but the wheels in my brain began to turn, and I developed an appreciation for coding (vowed I would never do it again, but still appreciated it).

Fast-forward 3.5 years to my senior year of high school, when I once again found myself in a coding class: AP Computer Science A: Beginner Java. I hated it at first because it felt so tedious, and it took forever to see the completed results of my work finally. Once I struggled learned the basic components of Java, it began to feel like a puzzle. I was writing problems and solving answers and typing and typing and typing to finally be able to output a working program.

Since then, I have become proficient in HTML, CSS, Java, and JavaScript. I also have experience with Bootstrap and WordPress, and I love learning as much as possible about back-end web development. I’ve been on a long journey through my relationship with coding but am so excited to use my knowledge to help other organizations improve their websites and platforms.