Meet Fatema: Tumblr Into Action
“I didn’t know what #000 was so I erased it and experimented with the name of an actual color…”
How did you get started with coding?
Tumblr had a coding feature and I was really into the design aspect of making things look pretty. I didn’t like the default Tumblr themes at all, so I went on the edit page and saw that there were a bunch of words that made up the page layout. I believe the first piece of code I tampered with was a CSS line that said “font-color: #000”. I didn’t know what #000 was so I erased it and experimented with the name of an actual color, such as “font-color:blue.” When I updated the theme, I was surprised and shocked at how simple it was to change the design of my Tumblr page. Pretty soon, I experimented with other familiar worded code lines and started altering them to match my ideas. I added Google fonts, box shadows, and even put in animations.
“Coding has taught me to challenge myself and most importantly, to be patient.”
What has coding taught you?
From the very beginning, coding has taught me a variety of skills that go beyond just learning different languages. Coding has taught me to challenge myself and most importantly, to be patient. Many times, I would be so frustrated with the syntax errors that I couldn’t find and fix. I would wait 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and sometimes even for hours, before finally spotting the mistake and finding a way to solve it. The feeling of satisfaction after fixing a coding error is the best feeling ever and it reinforces me to keep going. Also, I think of coding as a “simplified English language,” so whenever I am coding it forces me to think differently which, I think, is great for my brain! My creativity has expanded as I find new ways and means to design the perfect web page.
This school year, you started a coding club at school. What motivated you to do so?
I decided to start a coding club, XX Hackers, at my school because I felt that it was necessary to keep up with the fast-paced tech world of today and coding falls into that category of essential knowledge that everyone should know. At first, it’s something that sounds so daunting because many people, myself included, initially have this image of coding to be a jumble of words and numbers. Once I actually understood the meaning of what I once thought was jargon, I found coding to be a nice balance between fun and challenging. I think that even if I can help to just scratch the surface of coding for other people, that is satisfying enough for me and XX Hackers is an opportunity that allows me to achieve this. Also, through XX Hackers, we hope to get more girls involved with computer programming. I want to let girls in my school know that coding can be fun and that they can do the same things that boys can.
“…coding isn’t as bad as it looks like and it’s quite fun actually. If I can do it, so can anyone!”
What are your goals for XX Hackers?
We created a curriculum where girls from our school would meet once a week to learn and create. At our first meeting, we taught our club members what coding is and what they can achieve through coding.
Since XX Hackers is a new club that started late in the school year (November), finding club members has been the biggest challenge. I think that’s part of the package though because helping students learn about computer science has forced me to become a better communicator. The handful of students who are in XX Hackers are very diligent and diverse in their coding skills. There are some students who had no idea to what coding is and there are others who were fluent in several different coding languages. Ultimately, I find XX Hackers to be very rewarding because I get to teach what I know and meet students who I can relate with!
What are your plans for the future?
As a high school senior, I am planning out my next four years at college and I know I definitely want to keep coding as a part of my life whether it be through participating in hackathons, attending coding workshops, or just exploring more about coding by myself. I also participated in Girls Who Code, where I created a web app called “The 35%,” because only 35% of sexual assault victims have reported their case. My group and I added useful resources like a map with nearby hospitals and police stations, a live chat feature, and information on how to take legal action if one is assaulted.
I really enjoy HTML/CSS/Javascript because I’m really into the design aspect of coding.
Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in learning to code?
I would tell them to just go for it and to start with something tangible like Scratch or Alice or even HTML/CSS! Many blogging platforms, notably Tumblr, make it easy to experiment with coding and visually see an outcome. In fact, Tumblr was what sparked my curiosity. Coding isn’t as bad as it looks and it’s actually quite fun. If I can do it, anyone can!
Fatema is a high school senior and currently serves as vice president of XX Hackers. As Fatema shifts her focus to preparing for college, she looks forward to continuing her work — creating resourceful websites and designing beautiful interfaces.
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