Meet Afua
Afua is 15 years old and lives in the state of Illinois. She is currently part of a robotics team and enjoys reading and listening to music.
Afua was first introduced to her love of coding and programming at Girl Who Code.
“In the summer of last year, I went to Girls Who Code and learned how to make websites and our own mini portfolios on each website. One of the websites I worked on was about climate change.”
As a member of the Chicago Knights Robotics team, Afua loves her role as the team’s programmer.
“I'm the programmer, so I help set up the control systems for how the robot will move and the tournament's code so that the robot can drive on its own. It's very fun to watch my code work successfully, and I enjoy it a lot.”
Afua has been able to grow her learning by finding afterschool and summer opportunities to learn new coding skills.
“I got more and more interested in coding through each program I did. First, there was a specific type of coding I wanted to try, so I learned how to make websites. Then I really wanted to be able to code something so it could move on its own. So, I found that program. I would like to learn how to code my own video games, which would be amazing. I haven't done it yet because I don't have the coding skills for that yet, but if I find a program for it, I'm going to check it out and see if that's really something I would love to do.”
Afua has a lot of support from her family, which has helped her expand her love of coding. This has helped Afua even think about possible future careers.
“Both of my parents have supported me in my programs. My mom tells other people about all the things I do and they've told me it’s amazing that I am getting robots to move on their own. My grandmother has been sending me videos about robots in Amazon warehouses moving on their own. I believe she showed them to me because I'm in robotics, and she probably thought that I would love to see a robot move on its own, because somebody coded that.”
Afua has been thinking about how her love of coding might evolve in the future.
“One of the things I'd like to do in the future is become a game developer. I've been looking at colleges that have that track. I would like to continue my studies in robotics so I can build my own robots to do different things. One of the ideas I've had is to be a restaurant or bakery owner and have the robot cook. I would like to give people who aren't able to get food as easily the food that I make. It would be nice to help people.”
Afua encourages others to explore different STEM opportunities to learn more about their interests.