A Blocky Adventure by Thomas

A Blocky Adventure by Thomas - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Every time I went home from middle school, I emerged into another realm. It was my Minecraft testing world, a place where I experimented with the blocky game’s various features. Using the “Command-Blocks,” I gained fluency innovating the game through “commands,” lines of codes that controlled the game. Teleportation arrows, mock slot machines, and a minigame hub later, I gained a love for creating projects through lines of code.
Entering highschool, the blocky facade of Minecraft dissipated, revealing the real world. During freshman orientation, one of the electives quickly caught my eye: computer science. The promotional video explained how computer science is used in the real world, spotlighting fun projects that past students made. I was excited to begin my computer science journey, but I quickly encountered a barrier. I couldn’t.
Because of my school’s scheduling restrictions, I couldn’t take computer science classes, as I had to fulfill mandatory language requirements. Thus, only those who knew a second language or fulfilled it in middle school could have access to extra electives. I didn’t let that deter me, however. Still determined to pursue this pathway, I sought other ways to gain experience.
I first joined my school’s coding club. The computer science teacher introduced me to Python, a beginner coding language. She then suggested a project to get me started: coding my own story game in Python. Inspired by the mystery and thriller shows that I always watched, “Escape the Murder” was my very first project. It featured hundreds of lines of code, with a choose-your-own-adventure type of story.
The teacher invited me to my school's STEM showcase, where I entered my project. Out of four other participants, I won the “Best Beginner Project in Python” award. With this new motivation, I pursued other opportunities to strengthen my coding skills. I went to a coding event, hosted at UC San Diego. I joined my school’s MESA club, which had online coding competitions. I revisited my old Minecraft worlds, building cities with my profound coding knowledge.
Eventually, that led me to my senior year. I finally finished my language requirements and could take my first computer science class. Out of the three classes available, I took AP Computer Science A, the highest class in difficulty and the perfect representation of my computer science journey. Even though I started at the bottom, I still navigated my way to the top, excited to continue the climb entering college.