Broadening my Experience in Technology

This past summer has been an amazing time for me to broaden my experience in technology. After winning the New York Tri-State Affiliate Award this year, I decided that I would delve deeper into the two areas that I like best: website design and game programming. I joined an advanced game programming class in June, which allowed me to expand my knowledge of graphic user interfaces as well as the creation of “smart” computer opponents in Python. By the end of the summer, I had designed and run over thirty games, ranging from a simple racecar driving game to a digital version of Boggle, the card game Freecell, and much more!

I also began working on my first e-commerce website this summer. I have always been very interested in the workings of small businesses and decided to promote my mother’s existing company by giving her a virtual shop. This project, while daunting, was a lot of fun to work on, especially when I saw the final product. I used Google’s Analytics and Webmaster Tools in order to increase cross-promotion and make sure that I had relevant referrals back to the website. I also used Google’s Adwords to come up with the perfect campaign so that the business would gain more exposure. To date, I’ve put on sale just under one hundred items and the first orders have started coming through. Having made a pledge to donate 10% of all sales to the Heifer International Foundation, I’m so excited to see the future potential of this business and the results that my contributions will have!

Overall, this summer has been a very productive one, in terms of what I’ve been able to learn in technology. Thanks to the NCWIT Aspirations Award, I’ve been able to explore more fields with more confidence. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me in September, when I take the AP Computer Science class in my school.

 

Natasha is a 2012 New York Tri-State Affiliate Award Winner. She wrote this blog as part of the Aspirations in Computing Blog Contest.