Интервью с Катей
Два дня назад Юля взяла интервью у подростка, сотрудника Питонового клуба, который перевернул мой мир. Знаете, есть такой раздел человекознания "Люди, которые нас удивили." Подростку этому в момент, когда он меня удивил, было 14 лет. Примерно в январе, когда силы мои стали постепенно убывать, я вдруг обнаружила, что пришла помощь, откуда её не ждали. Пришёл подросток, который не спрашивал, устала я или нет, а просто стал помогать. Учился всему на ходу, креативно искал, где в системе задержка и спешил туда. Да, я знаю, я вообще легко восхищаюсь подростками, я просто нахожусь на этой волне. Но это совершенно исключительный случай. Почитайте сами. Все, кто в теме, наверное уже догадались, что речь идёт о Кате. Низкий поклон тебе, Катя, за всё, что ты сделала для Питонового клуба. *** Кстати, Катя преподаёт в летнем цикле, и туда ещё не поздно записаться. Ссылку положу в первом комменте.
J. Kat, how old are you, where do you live?
K. I am 15 and I live in North Carolina.
J. So you are in High School?
K. Yes, a sophomore.
J. So tell us, what was it that originally brought you to the Python club?
K. I took Python with The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), and I was looking for a chance to further my studies. I asked my mom to help me find some additional classes, and she told me about Oxana’s Python club that was just starting up. I took Python for beginners, which is now Python 1, though it turned out I already knew most of the material. I loved the atmosphere, the teachers, and the students, so I continued to take more advanced classes. I continued to want to be more involved and eventually took up the opportunity to TA for the Python club.
J. Did you take all that the Python club had to offer, Python 1 through Python 5?
K. Yes, and some time in between I took another class by professor Zinoviev.
J. And how many courses have you been helping to teach?
K. I have been teaching Python 1 through 4.
J. I understand you have teaching experience outside of the Python club?
K. Yes! I have been teaching mathematics to children from the ages of 8 to 13.
J. So now that you’ve tried both, can you tell us what is it that you really like about the Python Club?
K. My math lessons are always one-on-one, so I loved having the chance to teach group lessons. In private tutoring sessions, you only hear the perspective of one student on how to solve a problem, but just like with mathematics problems, programming problems can be solved in varying ways. I enjoy being able to see the different methods that students implement to problem solve.
J. So what do you like about programming?
K. I absolutely love it! In a way it is like mathematics, that there is almost never just one solution to a problem. My passion for mathematics has led me to programming and has furthered my understanding for problem solving. In mathematics, once you have solved a problem and gotten a correct solution, you are done, but in programming it is completely different. You could get a correct solution, but make it fancier and add little details to make the program unique, usable, or more convenient. Another thing about programming is that it is a language, maybe not a form of speech for humans, but it is a way for us to communicate with technology. Technology is the future and I would like to be a part of it.
J. Kat, I know you have other roles in the Python Club. I understand you have been heavily involved with building The Python Club website, which was a student-run project. Can you tell us a little about it?
K. We decided not to build it from scratch, because we had time constraints and because it would be too cumbersome. We decided to use Wix as our building platform. We started with the logo and design, where we all contributed. Then we started to put up information about the Python club, the instructors, and the courses we provide. That led to other things, like diagnostic tests for people to determine which class they should take. Then we thought it would be nice to add a way to register for classes directly from the website, and so we did. We also recently added information about our summer camp on the website!
J. You say “we” - how many of you were there?
K. There were 4-5 people in the team.
J. From the day you started to work on the project and to the day it was originally posted, how long did it take?
K. It took a couple of weeks to put just the information about the club and the courses. Setting up a way for people to register through the website was a bit more time consuming. We had to monkeypatch our site to collect and send additional info that Wix did not give us the option to, which was the most time consuming part, but now we have a website!
J. I was told you were the person who did most of the work, is that true?
K. Well, I kind of kick-started the project and I designed the logo. I also organized most of the content for the website, but everybody else pitched in with the ideas, especially when it came to deciding what pages to have on the website.
J. Can I say that you were running the project?
K. Yes.
J. That is amazing! Have you done this kind of project before?
K. I had experience with creating websites. I created my own website before, for my tutoring business. It is not as complex, though.
J. But you did that on your own, right? Did you have experience with group projects?
K. Yes, but this was the first time I really took a major leadership position.
J. That is amazing, and you did a great job. Now, let me ask a few more personal questions. What do you do in your spare time - that is, if you have any?
K. (laughs) Right, between the Python club and my math studies I do not have that much free time. In school, I participate in science competitions, including Science Olympiad and Envirothon. I also study math outside of school and spend time preparing for math competitions. Aside from that, I like to play the violin. I’ve been playing it since I was 6 years old, and now I am in a leadership quartet. I play in school and I also take private lessons. I also enjoy singing and reading. I also have some small hobbies, for example, I have recently started to learn crochet.
J. Really? That sounds like fun, what have you crocheted so far?
K. Just a small piece, about two palms wide. Oh, I also paint sometimes!
J. With what?
K. With acrylic paints. I wanted to show you the last piece I did, but I cannot find it right now.
J. What are you planning to do after graduation? Let me take a wild guess: math?
K. Yes math, specifically statistics! I will probably major in it and then maybe double minor in violin performance and in either CS or biology. I would like to become either a statistics professor, or an MD, which is why I am considering the bio minor. If I choose the path of medicine, I would most likely aspire to become a cardiothoracic surgeon!
J. Wow, those are two very different lifepaths! Whatever road you choose, I wish you the best of luck on it!
K. Thank you!
J. Kat, how old are you, where do you live?
K. I am 15 and I live in North Carolina.
J. So you are in High School?
K. Yes, a sophomore.
J. So tell us, what was it that originally brought you to the Python club?
K. I took Python with The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), and I was looking for a chance to further my studies. I asked my mom to help me find some additional classes, and she told me about Oxana’s Python club that was just starting up. I took Python for beginners, which is now Python 1, though it turned out I already knew most of the material. I loved the atmosphere, the teachers, and the students, so I continued to take more advanced classes. I continued to want to be more involved and eventually took up the opportunity to TA for the Python club.
J. Did you take all that the Python club had to offer, Python 1 through Python 5?
K. Yes, and some time in between I took another class by professor Zinoviev.
J. And how many courses have you been helping to teach?
K. I have been teaching Python 1 through 4.
J. I understand you have teaching experience outside of the Python club?
K. Yes! I have been teaching mathematics to children from the ages of 8 to 13.
J. So now that you’ve tried both, can you tell us what is it that you really like about the Python Club?
K. My math lessons are always one-on-one, so I loved having the chance to teach group lessons. In private tutoring sessions, you only hear the perspective of one student on how to solve a problem, but just like with mathematics problems, programming problems can be solved in varying ways. I enjoy being able to see the different methods that students implement to problem solve.
J. So what do you like about programming?
K. I absolutely love it! In a way it is like mathematics, that there is almost never just one solution to a problem. My passion for mathematics has led me to programming and has furthered my understanding for problem solving. In mathematics, once you have solved a problem and gotten a correct solution, you are done, but in programming it is completely different. You could get a correct solution, but make it fancier and add little details to make the program unique, usable, or more convenient. Another thing about programming is that it is a language, maybe not a form of speech for humans, but it is a way for us to communicate with technology. Technology is the future and I would like to be a part of it.
J. Kat, I know you have other roles in the Python Club. I understand you have been heavily involved with building The Python Club website, which was a student-run project. Can you tell us a little about it?
K. We decided not to build it from scratch, because we had time constraints and because it would be too cumbersome. We decided to use Wix as our building platform. We started with the logo and design, where we all contributed. Then we started to put up information about the Python club, the instructors, and the courses we provide. That led to other things, like diagnostic tests for people to determine which class they should take. Then we thought it would be nice to add a way to register for classes directly from the website, and so we did. We also recently added information about our summer camp on the website!
J. You say “we” - how many of you were there?
K. There were 4-5 people in the team.
J. From the day you started to work on the project and to the day it was originally posted, how long did it take?
K. It took a couple of weeks to put just the information about the club and the courses. Setting up a way for people to register through the website was a bit more time consuming. We had to monkeypatch our site to collect and send additional info that Wix did not give us the option to, which was the most time consuming part, but now we have a website!
J. I was told you were the person who did most of the work, is that true?
K. Well, I kind of kick-started the project and I designed the logo. I also organized most of the content for the website, but everybody else pitched in with the ideas, especially when it came to deciding what pages to have on the website.
J. Can I say that you were running the project?
K. Yes.
J. That is amazing! Have you done this kind of project before?
K. I had experience with creating websites. I created my own website before, for my tutoring business. It is not as complex, though.
J. But you did that on your own, right? Did you have experience with group projects?
K. Yes, but this was the first time I really took a major leadership position.
J. That is amazing, and you did a great job. Now, let me ask a few more personal questions. What do you do in your spare time - that is, if you have any?
K. (laughs) Right, between the Python club and my math studies I do not have that much free time. In school, I participate in science competitions, including Science Olympiad and Envirothon. I also study math outside of school and spend time preparing for math competitions. Aside from that, I like to play the violin. I’ve been playing it since I was 6 years old, and now I am in a leadership quartet. I play in school and I also take private lessons. I also enjoy singing and reading. I also have some small hobbies, for example, I have recently started to learn crochet.
J. Really? That sounds like fun, what have you crocheted so far?
K. Just a small piece, about two palms wide. Oh, I also paint sometimes!
J. With what?
K. With acrylic paints. I wanted to show you the last piece I did, but I cannot find it right now.
J. What are you planning to do after graduation? Let me take a wild guess: math?
K. Yes math, specifically statistics! I will probably major in it and then maybe double minor in violin performance and in either CS or biology. I would like to become either a statistics professor, or an MD, which is why I am considering the bio minor. If I choose the path of medicine, I would most likely aspire to become a cardiothoracic surgeon!
J. Wow, those are two very different lifepaths! Whatever road you choose, I wish you the best of luck on it!
K. Thank you!