My Journey into Tech: 11 - 19 years old

Introduction

I consider myself to be amongst the select few women in tech to have had such great opportunities for learning tech from a young age.

Education has been the centre of my life, and not a day passes where I don't appreciate its value: learning and education are the propellors of our world.

Here's a brief insight into growing up in tech in an environment where education has no barriers.

The Beginning: Scratch

In the Beginning, there was Scratch and Carol Vorderman.

Scratch is a product of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, and in essence, it makes programming accessible for children. Code is written as draggable blocks that are connected like pieces of a puzzle.

With Scratch, coding is a game to create more games. And for a Maths-loving geek of an 11-year-old girl, there was nothing better.

Carol Vorderman, amongst many impressive things, is the author of 'Computer Coding for Kids'. This was my first ever textbook, bought for me by my dad.

This book was the lifeline that guided me through making all my first games in Scratch. I spent many weekends making infinitely layered mazes based on the 'Inside Out' (Pixar, 2015) characters Sadness and Joy.

The absolute pinnacle of enjoyment for me, at 11, was playing my finished mazes from start to finish, admiring the many, multi-coloured blocks of code.

The longevity of Scratch prevails. Only last week, one of the 11-year-olds I tutor asked me if he could abandon my extremely engaging lesson on Area and Perimeter to make his football Scratch game.

In all seriousness, Scratch is truly excellent. And there isn't quite anything to rival how simply and successfully Scratch introduces coding to kids.

The Long Years: Computer Science in Education

With Computer Science still being a relatively new subject, it falls that there are a relatively limited number of teachers. Often, IT teachers are having to teach Computer Science. This means that the nuances of the subject are not always covered.

(Any Computer Scientist will take great pleasure in reminding you that you can be be the winner of the Turing Award and not know why the printer is broken.)

This leaves students wanting to take Computer Science at higher levels in slightly sticky situations. Do you sacrifice the best grades for the opportunity to carry on learning the subject you want to pursue?

This is the exact question I had to ask myself, as a 14-year-old about to begin my GCSEs. Despite knowing how interesting Computer Science could be, this didn't always translate in lessons.

I bit the bullet and began Computer Science at GCSE, in spite of my reservations. And the risk paid off, because not long after I was blessed with a new Computer Science department at my school.

All of a sudden, I was in a classroom environment of encouragement and passion for Computer Science. I was able to achieve the highest grades at both GCSE and A-level, due to my newfound love for Computer Science lessons.

Even more surprising to that doubtful 14 year old, I'm now in the midst of a BSc in Computer Science.

The lesson to learn from this, is simply that you will always do the best in whatever you love the most. I was fortunate to have a Computer Science department that inspired me, but this is different for everyone. It's just about finding what makes learning Tech special to you.

The Very Short Years: JavaScript, Cryptography, and Sharing

Reflecting on the years 2022-2024 is quite a disorientating experience for me. The years of making Scratch games and persevering with my formal education seemed to expel in one huge burst of energy.

I was introduced to Web Development and Cryptography at around the same time. I was Augustus Gloop entering the Chocolate Factory: completely magnetised.

Web development reawakened the excitable, Scratch-loving child, by letting me create a visual interface (as opposed to the text based Python programs I was building in lessons). It was new, exciting, and completely my cup of tea.

I went into web development with full force and a only a few months in, I created my pride and joy: Numble (click on the link for the best game experience ever!).

Numble was quite the success, gaining traction from 1000s of users worldwide, being noticed on JavaScript Weekly, and even winning some nifty awards, like Best Maths Game 2022 on mathsgem.

Cryptography took the form of the National Cipher Challenge, where I cracked 20 ciphers of increasing difficulty as fast as possible, competing against over 7000 other students. In my first year I finished 11th. In my second, I finished 1st, winning the Trinity College Cambridge prize.

My successes in development and cryptography inspired me to share this knowledge. I wrote up how to build Numble in my first article with SitePoint, I started my own Cipher Club coaching younger girls in my school through the Cipher Challenge, and I ran sessions at the school's Coding Club.

Both these feats were the start of a software development and cyber security journey that have led me all over the place. From the everywoman in Tech awards 2023, to many more articles on SitePoint, to much more advanced apps than Numble, and even back to the Cipher Challenge!

Conclusions: On Women in Tech

Throughout all, what remains is my love for Computer Science, and my drive to keep going.

I have been incredibly blessed to have been continually surrounded by the belief, at home and in education, that my gender is completely dissociated with work. I have never believed Computer Science to be 'for men' (even in spite of the shocking ratios in my lectures).

Education and love for learning is at the heart of all my success, and it's vital we continue to make learning as good and as welcoming for everyone as possible. Learning is my key to success.

I sincerely hope this attitude continues to develop and my journey will be seen as 'normal' and not a 'blessing'.

Computer Science is for those that love learning Computer Science. Computer Science is for me.

To forever better Computer Science education, Carol Vorderman and women everywhere ❤️