It all started when I was in middle school. I began to develop a deep interest in computers and programming. I started out learning the Objective-C language, and by the time I was in 8th grade, I published my first application to the Apple App Store (of course, under my mom's name since you had to be 18 with a valid driver's license to publish!). From there, I went on to learn Swift, and by 10th grade, I published my second game to the App Store.

Throughout middle and high school, I devoted much of my free time to learning different programing languages and technologies. My first formal programming class was in 10th grade in a beginner Python introduction course my high school offered. From there, I would go on to take AP Computer Science A in the 11th grade, all while working on various personal coding projects, many of which have never seen the light of day.

In 2019, I applied and got accepted to Clemson University as a computer engineering major. However, almost immediately after being accepted, I switched programs to elementary education. Teaching and sharing my knowledge have always interested me. So much so, while a middle and high schooler, I would frequently make programming tutorials on my YouTube channel. (I'm sure a few of these still exist somewhere on the internet). In my senior year of high school, I took a job at my old elementary school, working in the extended day program. There, I felt a call from the Lord to switch majors and pursue a degree in education.

At the time, Clemson did not offer a middle-level education program, and to be honest, if you had asked me if I ever saw myself in the middle school classroom, I would have immediately told you "no." But, as is a running theme in my life, and at the risk of sounding overly clichè, the Lord works in mysterious ways. While in college, I began volunteering for Young Life as a WyldLife leader, a ministry set on bringing the Gospel to middle school-aged students. Here I found the deep love for the middle school grades the Lord has instilled in me. While I wish I would have switched to the middle-level major sooner, a major switch would be too much of a hassle at this point in my undergraduate career. As such, I am sticking with the elementary major but hope to find a 6th-grade position upon graduation and plan to certify in middle-level math and science as soon as possible.