At Kodecoon Academy, our students are exposed to various programming languages and are strongly encouraged to venture out to take part in coding competitions. After all, we want our students to actively participate in such events and ultimately put their coding skills to the test.
Besides being an excellent way to showcase the students’ technical aptitude, it also builds problem-solving skills using a “think-out-of-the-box” approach to better handle unexpected situations. Coding competitions also help students to build resilience and confidence – it definitely takes a lot of patience and dedication to sit through hours of building, debugging, and algorithmic problem-solving!
With that, Kodecoon Academy is extremely proud to announce that Curtis Ji Yi Angstetra managed to clinch a Gold Award in the annual Hwa Chong Info-communications Challenge (HCIC)!
What is the competition about?
The Hwa Chong Info-communications Challenge, also known as HCIC, is a yearly coding competition organized by Hwa Chong Institution, strictly open to primary schools, with an aim to inspire young learners and identify talents in areas related to STEM, coding, and robotics.
We want to find out more about how students’ participation and experience after winning the coding challenge. Hence, we got our beloved Teacher Deddy to interview Curtis after his very proud mummy reached out to us to share that Curtis is a proud Gold award winner in HCIC. Read on for the juiciest scoop!
How did you get to know about HCIC?
My teacher introduced HCIC to my Infocomm CCA and I found it interesting so I decided to take up this opportunity and challenge myself.
What was the competition about?
I was required to answer some questions on Robotics and Python. It was in an exam setting and I had to answer MCQ and open-ended questions. I was given about one and a half hours to complete the quiz.
Did you find it challenging?
Yes, it was quite challenging as it required lots of problem-solving and logical thinking. It also required me to recall some of the syntaxes from my WC302 JavaScript programming class and Python Coder programming class.
Did you feel confident submitting the test?
Not really. I thought I would at most get a certificate of participation. I know some of my friends have an equally strong coding background and some are even better than me. I just did my best.
How did you feel about getting a Gold Award?
I was surprised to know that I was the only one from my school who got Gold Award. At best, I expected a Bronze Award because I heard only the top 5% of this competition are given the Gold Award! Definitely, this comes as a pleasant surprise!
How are you going to use this Gold Award for your future?
I am in the midst of applying for Direct-School-Admission (DSA) to the School of Science and Technology (SST) and River Valley High School. This award is definitely worth mentioning during the DSA interview.
How did what you learned in Kodecoon help you in HCIC?
I was able to use the knowledge that I learned in my basic Python Coder classes — PC401 and PC402 and taught by Teacher Ken to ace this test. The content allowed me to get the questions right and I got a better understanding of what is being asked of me. Teacher Ken is also a super fun teacher as he comes up with stories to let us understand challenging coding concepts easily.
Are you interested in coding?
I am genuinely interested in coding and when I am looking for secondary schools, I look out to see if they provide any coding programs or Infocomm CCAs as I want to do something related to coding. It is really fun and challenges my mind.
How often do you code outside of CCA and Kodecoon classes?
I spend about 3 to 4 hours outside of CCA and Kodecoon class time to do the homework assigned and work on my side projects in Scratch!
Was there a time in your coding journey when you wanted to give up or was close to giving up?
Not exactly, as I did not want to give up, especially not on my passion. During the AC201 and AC202 courses, which are the AppInventor mobile development classes, I found it quite challenging but I pushed through and managed to finish it. Right now, in PC403, my intermediate Python class, I am doing Pygame and it is tough but I am going to try because it seems fun. When I was in my beginner classes in Python, Teacher Ken showed the class a glimpse of Pygame and I remember thinking, “It’s going to be hard but so fun”.
Do you have any tips and advice to give to your Kodecoon juniors who might want to take part in similar competitions?
I would say you need to be confident. Do not be afraid to put in an answer you are unsure of because you will never know if it was right. There were questions I did not know how to do but I still tried and put in my answer. Most importantly, give each question a fair fighting chance.
What would like to say to your parents who have supported you through your coding journey?
I would like to say thank you to my parents for allowing me to join Kodecoon in the first place because if not, I would not have discovered coding as my passion and learned so much.
Curtis won a Gold award for the Hwa Chong Info-communications Challenge (HCIC). We congratulate Curtis on his big win and hope he continues to further pursue his dreams in programming.
Congratulations once again! We are proud of you!
Programming has certainly become a niche for this generation. It makes one’s eyebrows rise when a 12-year-old says, “I love coding”. And Kodecoon is proud to grow our next generation of technology leaders on this path towards success. At Kodecoon Academy, our mission is to help develop critical thinking skills and help our children of tomorrow channel their creativity to transform ideas into concrete realities!
Contact us to register for our FREE Scratch Coder trial classes and meet our instructors to learn more about how you can kickstart your child’s coding journey with us! You can also check out a brief introduction of our trial class process here for more information!