Coding for Girls! by Amelia

Coding for Girls! by Amelia - November 2021 Scholarship Essay

Access to technology, especially for underprivileged girls in STEM, is a pressing and pervasive issue. To address this deficit, I created a camp, CodeForKids2020, to teach coding during the summer of the pandemic. Isabella, a seemingly very shy girl in my CodeForKids 2020 camp often went unnoticed. Though I could not easily read how she was feeling at any given moment, sometimes she flashed a look of bewilderment that said everything I needed to know. As much as I tried to reach out to her, she rejected any outside individualized help. After 2 days of class, she finally responded to my private message in the zoom chat, and I jumped at the opportunity to connect. She was hesitant to share her screen and show her code at first. But when she finally did, I saw the beautiful combination of scatter paint composed of red lines, blue dots, purple squares, and pink swirls that filled the screen. My words of praise transformed her face from being clouded with fear and doubt to happiness.
As glad as I was to have created a virtual classroom with positive energy and an environment where students felt safe to use their voices, even over zoom, what caught my attention most was how strongly I could relate to Isabella. I remembered how unconfident I had been when I first embarked on my journey into mathematics and coding. I remembered thinking that boys never seemed as shy to raise their hands and ask questions or show off their work. Seeing Isabella’s artwork filled with shining colors and fun designs, I decided then and there to use my teaching platform to help others, especially girls, begin to understand their place in the STEM field just as I had.
Because I was able to experience this moment in time with Isabella, I realize the importance of this class for all girls!