By ZEYNEP ÇELIKTEN
World Scholars Academy
Why Did You Choose To Participate in WSA Coders Academy?
Growing up, we didn’t have anyone in the family that understood electronics and as the eldest child I was the one to solve the computer related problems in the house, which ultimately led me to know my way around computers. However, I had a lot of questions about the logic of computer science and how everything worked together. I wanted to participate in WSA Coders Academy, for I knew I wanted a strong foundation and understanding of basic concepts.
How Did You Decide Which Summer Program Was Right For You?
I researched a lot of pre-college introductory computer science programs, however most of them did not offer the collaborative and interactive environment WSA Coders Academy program offered. As a person who tried to learn programming via pre-recorded lectures for six months and almost gave up hope of ever learning programming, this was a huge plus for me. The course was given by an amazing instructor with experience in the field, which was a factor I looked for as I had many questions to ask. Lastly, the WSA Coders Academy course material included introductory yet extensive content which was certain to set a strong foundation for my computer science journey.
What Was a Typical Day Like in Your Summer Program?
A typical day would begin with solving the unsolved questions of yesterday’s homework with our instructor. We were encouraged to brainstorm together as a group and come up with a solution and he would only step in if we were totally lost. The lesson would move on with the instructor’s presentations that were very interactive and supported by real-life examples, we sometimes played fun games to understand certain concepts. Whenever we didn’t understand a part from the presentations we would go to our Python IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and try for ourselves how a certain code would work.
Then we were assigned take-home exercises that helped us practice what we learned that day because after all programming is mostly about practice. I had somewhat of a guess what I would learn in a two-week program but this was beyond my expectations. I learned so much in two weeks that even I was surprised.
What Was the Most Memorable Moment of Your Summer Program?
My most memorable moment of the program has to be when I first wrote a complex code without the help of my instructor. One of the exercises of our daily assignment was writing a Python code to check the validity of a password. It was a challenging code to write as the code needed to check for many factors like symbols, digits, number of characters, etc. However, I was able to write a fully functioning code after a lot of trial and error. It was a very important moment for me as it was the first time I’ve written a code that was used in real life as we often come across such code at every website when creating passwords. It was a moment which made me sure of my decision of studying computer science and eventually pursuing it as a career.
What Advice Do You Have For Teens Looking for Summer Programs?
When looking for a summer program, make sure to check the program’s curriculum, whether it meets your wants and standards, the instructor, as the instructor is a very important factor in understanding complex concepts, and its environment, an interactive environment was a must for me, and I chose accordingly. If the program meets all of your personal requirements. then go, enjoy, and learn something new!