An Educational Program for Girls

My name is Aditi Patil. I am 17 years old and a junior in high school. Throughout elementary

and middle school, I had always fixated on the thought that computer programming was

something for boys because it was too difficult to learn, had a "geeky" characteristic, and

had too much of a lone wolf kind of atmosphere. However, after scheduling at my high school

resulted in me having Introduction to Java Programming as an elective, I became immersed in

the world of computer science. I enrolled in a summer coding camp at Flatiron school where I

became aware of the shocking disparity between men and women in the Computer Science

industry. This inspired me to start XX Coders as a high school club and become involved with

organizations like Girls Who Code. I might not have stumbled onto computer science if it

weren't for the push of my family and teachers, but not every girl has that opportunity.

After several years of volunteering at the middle school in the nearby town of Wyandanch, I

realized this was one of the places where no one really had exposure to computer science.

Interestingly, the Girls Who Code that I interned at was at the Wyandanch Family Life Center

but only two girls showed up and neither were from Wyandanch! Unsettled by this, I decided

that someone should computer science to this area. We live in a STEM (science, technology,

engineering, and math) universe, where any career can be benefited with knowledge in

computer programming. With so much love and passion for coding, I want nothing more than to

spread this to other girls so that they may find success somewhere in their lifetime--not

only in the field of computer science but all the many applications that coding provides.