At the age of 7, I stumbled upon the digital realm during a beginner coding class at my school. The journey began with a simple Scratch maze game, “programmed” out of colorful code blocks representing conditionals, variables, and statements. The objectives of the game were straightforward: guide a ball through obstacles to reach a flag. However, I saw beyond its simplicity and spent hours tinkering with different variables and components in order to optimize the game’s performance and enhance its graphics. Each block of code sparked a glimmer of potential, an untapped well of creativity waiting to be explored, reminiscent of the satisfaction and awe I felt when building LEGO creations during my earlier years. Just as each brick contributed to constructing a unique creation, each line of code contributed to shaping and refining my digital world without any boundaries.
This passion for computers permeated throughout my childhood and I found solace in the glow of computer screens while pouring my energy into countless coding projects. With each successive endeavor, I saw how creativity could be intertwined with pragmatism in order to develop meaningful technology in service of humanity: an air-quality monitoring AI, a radar system to protect planes from cyber threats, a Chrome extension to help web developers with their design process, and more.
Despite her busy schedule, my mother saved up her money to gift me a precious Macbook Air, which became the gateway for more intricate programming and development endeavors and propelled my skill set into new heights. With continued passion and persistence for years, I taught myself 18 programming languages to fluency by watching coding courses on YouTube and reading free online articles. Programming became my refuge, providing solace from the challenges I faced throughout my childhood. It offered me a realm where I could take control, develop initiatives, and transcend the limitations of my upbringing.
When I was 4…
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