Olivia’s Determination is Inspiring!

Meet Olivia, a nine-year-old from Illinois. She plays the flute and even has a year of archery under her belt! When her classmate and fellow 4th grader Ysabella was featured, Olivia was motivated to start creating projects, too!

Her determination paid off – we’re excited to be featuring her and her amazing projects. When Olivia found out her project was being featured, she told us she was “super, super, SUPER excited,” to which her mom added, “I can vouch for that!”

We asked Olivia a few questions about her experience coding with Tynker!

What do you want to be when you grow up? Well, I’m either going to be a coder or an author! My mom says maybe I should be a tour guide!

What’s your favorite subject in school? I like writing and reading!

Why do you like to code? Because you get to make your own stuff that’s actually a game!

How do you get inspiration for your projects? Well, I don’t know! It just happens!

What are you planning to make next? I’m just waiting for some inspiration!

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? Probably the one that got featured! I learned how to draw the cat in it from my sister!

“Vet Office” – see more of Olivia’s projects here!

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I show it to people!

Her mom Gail added, “She usually has us test it out a bit and see if it’s working right. And then she changes some stuff.”

How did you get introduced to Tynker? Our math teacher had us download it on our iPads.

How did you learn how to use Tynker? Well, when we were in the elementary school a few years ago the computer teacher there had us do Hour of Code, so we did it a little bit, but otherwise, I just learned by myself. She had us download it at the beginning of the school year and I hardly used it back then, but then one of my friends (Featured Maker Ysabella) got featured and this happened to her, so I wanted to try it, and that was in November. I told her I was getting featured too and she hugged me so hard!

What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? Probably the part that you actually code your stuff!

Do you ever Tynker with your friends? No, not really, but I did tell my friend to try it and now she’s trying it too.

Do you look at the Tynker community projects? Yes! Sometimes when I don’t know how to code something I really want to add to a game, I look at the code of other people’s projects and learn how to do it.

How do you think learning coding now will help you in the future? Well, now I’ll probably code my own app. I could sell that and earn money!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Definitely! They could learn a lot of stuff and have fun doing it!

Olivia’s mom Gail thinks it’s great that Olivia is learning to code. She mentioned that Olivia’s critical thinking skills have seen a big improvement since she began coding! Gail continued, saying, “I think it’s really cool that she can take an idea and see it come to life.”

Mrs. Sizemore, Olivia’s math teacher, had a lot of good things to say about Olivia! She told us that “Olivia is a very focused and hardworking student. She grasps concepts quickly and works to do her best in everything. She is very organized and seeks answers if confused.”

She gave us a little insight into Olivia’s coding journey, saying, “When I introduced coding to the class at the beginning of the year, she showed high interest in it. Once Ysabella shared her growth with using the coding activities, Olivia decided and took the personal initiative to go further with creating her own code activities. It was as if all that she needed was to see another peer experiment, and then she decided this would be a passion for herself.”

Coding has already positively impacted Olivia’s math skills! Mrs. Sizemore said, “I have noticed when she makes mistakes in her math work, she uses multiple resources to identify the problem and then make adjustments so she can be more successful. I’m sure this is also the way she approaches her coding work.”

Gail said that when Olivia codes, “she comes up with an idea and can make it come to life!” Gail noted that Olivia will “code and then test it out, see what works and what doesn’t. I think that’s a great thing to learn.”

In Mrs. Sizemore’s words, “Coding seems to fit well with the ongoing growth mindset I strive to instill in my students. Olivia and Ysabella have been just two examples of students who are using persistence and perseverance to accomplish goals that they personally enjoy.”

Thanks for speaking with us, Olivia, Gail, and Mrs. Sizemore! We can’t wait to see what you dream up the next time inspiration strikes, Olivia. Happy coding!