do something BIG!
Meet Jon
Jon, a 17-year-old app developer, ignited his passion for programming at an iD Programming Academy session held at Stanford. He turned entrepreneur after his session ended, and now hopes to fund further education with the profits from all of his app sales. After his experience living and learning at iD’s Stanford summer camp, he feels more prepared and excited for college than ever. Read on for more about his experience!
iD: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are your hobbies?
Jon: I am from the Seattle area. I have the blessing/curse of being interested in just about everything – science, literature, drama, mathematics, technology, filmmaking, music, and history are all very well represented in my hobbies.
iD: What courses did you take and where was your session?
J: I attended the iD Programming Academy at Stanford University. I took the Google Android™ App Development course.
iD: What opportunities did iD Programming Academy give you that you otherwise wouldn’t have had? Did you previously have a lot of exposure to technology?
J: I did have a lot of exposure to technology before attending the iD Programming Academy – I was already fairly experienced with C# and had experimented with Java. iD gave me a lot of excellent opportunities, however. Having an instructor explain the Android™ SDK was an invaluable experience. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by a reporter from Bloomberg Businessweek, which was an awesome experience and great publicity. The whole experience further ignited my passion for programming. I’m also working with a friend I met at camp to build a website that links nonprofit organizations’ needs with mobile app developers.
iD: How have you used what you’ve learned with iD? (Any projects or clubs at school?)
J: I have already released several apps on the market and am making money from them in both advertisements and purchases. It’s been really nice. I also started teaching a programming class at my high school once a week as part of the STEM club I helped found. It’s been a great leadership experience.
iD: What do you plan to do with this knowledge in the future? (Attend college, pursue a certain career?)
J: I will continue to create apps and release them to the market – hopefully I’ll make enough money to help fund my college education. At the very least, the apps provide a constant source of income, and with enough of them released, I’ll be able to cover some of my own expenses (like gas money or eating out).
iD: Will you take more technology classes?
J: Absolutely! I love learning new things, and the more knowledge I have about technology, the better!
iD:Did coming to iD Programming Academy help you improve in other aspects of your life besides technology?
J: Through iD, I gained the experience of living with a roommate on a college campus. Furthermore, I had the wonderful opportunity to explore the campus of the university I most want to attend – Stanford! Being on campus made me feel better prepared for college and further cemented in my mind that Stanford was my first choice as a university. I’m looking forward to learning even more this summer when I attend iD Programming Academy held at the University of Texas in Austin.
iD: How was daily life at camp? What’s your funniest memory?
J: Daily life was at camp was awesome! We spent something like seven hours a day programming – what can be better than that? Everyone enjoyed playing games on breaks and the evening activities that were planned for us. However, I think the funniest moment had to be dumping water on one of our instructors as part of the end-of-camp raffle. Yeah, that was pretty awesome.
iD: Any advice for future iD Tech campers?
J: Come with an open mind. If you really like technology, you will feel very at home here. It’s great to hang out with people who share your interests, know all of your references, and have the same culture. Also, if you are from up north, bring sunglasses
Check out some of the cool courses Jon mentioned. Register early and do something BIG with iD this summer!
