Meet Malcolm, The Naval Engineer

Meet Malcolm, a CodeNow alumnus and computer engineering major at the United States Naval Academy

Before Malcolm arrived at Annapolis, he was a teenager in Washington D.C., learning to code for the first time at a CodeNow workshop in 2012.

What led you to the United States Naval Academy?

I had always wanted to join the military because I really wanted to travel. I thought that I was going to enlist, but my dad wanted me to go to college. Eventually, I learned about the Naval Academy. I did a lot of research to see if I would be a good fit. I went to summer seminar and completed a year at NAPS (Naval Academy Prep School) before starting at the Academy.

Going to the workshop confirmed that I wanted to study computer engineering.

How did you get into computer programming?

In the 7th grade, a teacher told me that because I was really good at math, I should become an engineer. I didn’t actually know what an engineer did but I wanted to learn. In high school, I took a digital electronics class and it was the most fun that I have ever had in school. That’s when I realized that I really liked working with computers. I signed up for CodeNow because I had never seen code before. I didn’t really know what coding was but I knew it would be a really good opportunity to do something awesome.

Do you remember how you felt coding for the first time?

I remember feeling really excited because I was actually coding and I was pretty good at it, too! Going to the workshop confirmed that I wanted to study computer engineering. It gave me assurance in my career path because at the end of the workshop, I knew I wanted a career coding.

Did you have an “a-ha!” moment during the workshop?

During the final project, we used loops to create a story where the user has 2 or 3 decisions that he can make. The decisions would affect the outcome of the story, and everything just kind of clicked at that point.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

When I was in high school, I didn’t really have to study and I would do fine. But once I got to the Academy, I had to learn how to study. I realized that there will always be difficult subjects, like Chemistry, where you just have to put in the time to learn the materials.

What kind of advice would you give someone who is currently in high school?

Take in everything that you learn. Knowing one language makes learning other languages a lot easier. Start developing your organizational skills and get into the habit of studying. Put in a few hours each day and it will make things a lot easier. Also, read! It doesn’t matter what you read. Just read.

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