My High School CS Class Experience

Related to my previous post, VentureBeat had a short article today about thegender and racial gap in computer science education. It reminded me of my own experience. I took computer science during the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I had to take it during the summer break, otherwise I’d lose my only elective during the regular school year (which I really wanted to keep for orchestra). There were only 2 girls in the class of 25. (Not surprisingly we ended up being partners for the final project.) There were no windows in the room, which exacerbated the ripe BO of a room full of teenage boys. All summer long, they blasted the same Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream album over and over (to this day I cannot stand any song on that album). I consider myself lucky to have spent the beautiful Virginia summer learning to code in a dark, airless, smelly room listening to Billy Corgan. My high school was focused on science & tech and I had opportunities that most kids can only dream of. But is this the hurdle we’re asking for kids who want to learn to code?