Alisa's Blog

Tales of an Adventurous Aquarius

Here, you can read about my endeavors in the GirlsWhoCode Summer Immersion Program!

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Endeavors in SIP: Day 1

July 20, 2020

On the first day, I met my fellow classmates, TAs, and was introduced to html. Even though the zoom lesson was a little fast paced (understandable for a first day), it was very engaging. During the breakout sessions within the lesson, I got to meet some of my peers and interact with them on a personal level, which was fun. After the html lesson was over, I started the creation of my own website, but so far it's not that visually appealing haha

Endeavors in SIP: Day 2

July 21, 2020

On the second day, I worked on making my website more appealing by using CSS. In the beginning, I was figuring out how flexbox worked, but eventually I got the hang of it with the help of my TAs. For the breakout sessions, I bonded with my peers and TAs. It was nice to talk to one of the TAs about college stuff, since they were very informative. We also learned about each other's names through a sisterhood activity, and this allowed me to get to know my classmates on a deper level. Overall, the day went well and I'm excited for the Project Showcase and guest speakers tomorrow!

Endeavors in SIP: Day 3

July 22, 2020

Today, we shared our websites with others and explored JavaScript. This language allows us to add interactivity to the elements that come from HTML and CSS. HTML is basically the skeleton of the webpage, CSS is the styling of that skeleton, while JavaScript lets the user interact with the elements. After the lesson, we listened to our partner speaker, BlackRock, and learned about their efforts in sustainability. For today's work, we're creating our own personality quiz, so let's see how that goes!

Endeavors in SIP: Day 4

July 23, 2020

Today, we learned about the different events in Javascript. I added on to my personality quiz using Event Listeners in order to make my quiz more interactive. The DOM(Document Object Model) allows you to write code that interacts with the HTML page that loads in your browser. Basically, We also defined what functions and conditionals are in terms of computer science. For our sisterhood activity, we created our own poems, and I learned so much about my peers as we each shared what we wrote. It turns out, we have so much more in common than we think! The last thing I did today was embedding my personality quiz project onto my website. I would say that it was a success, but of course, there's lot of improvements to be made.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 5

July 24, 2020

Today was on the "chiller" side. We shared our personality quizzes with each other, and gave back productive feedback. We also discussed plans for the second week, and learned about our future project! I'm excited to use my newfound skills in order to raise awareness to a topic of my choice through the use of a website.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 6

July 27, 2020

We're now in week two! Today we reviewed javacript concepts, including the use of flexbox. Then, we discussed the goals and requirements for our advocacy website. In terms of an effective website, it should have a clear way for others to learn about the cause, it should be easy to navigate, and have a short title/description that others can understand quickly. We also analyzed the design and messaging of existing activist websites.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 7

July 28, 2020

Today, we did a peer review of our mockups. We reviewed the projects of others. For the projects, we gave and recieved constructive feedback. This afternoon, my partner and I are going to begin coding our website and implement parallax structure in one of our pages.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 8

July 29, 2020

Today, we began to prepare for our final project showcase. I brainstormed my spotlight on a planning document. We also began to reflect on our own personal journeys. I feel very supported and learned how to work together with others to tackle problems.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 9

July 30, 2020

Today, we went through a practice runthrough of presenting our projects, in preparation for tommorow's showcase. I gave and recieved very helpful and constructive feedback.

Endeavors in SIP: Day 10

July 31, 2020

Today is my last day in this program. We have done so much in these two weeks and now I'm going to present my website to others. I created an informational website focused on LGBTQ+ issues. I was inspired to choose this topic because I wanted to educate people on the issues that this community faces on a daily basis. I wanted to create a place where people with unsavory beliefs could learn about what they might not understand. I've learned how to disect my ideas and how to interact with the computer to turn my ideas into reality. I didn't realize how impactful this program would be on me. I came into this with no expectations, and was pleasantly surprised when I was greeted with the most supportive group of girls with a common goal of changing the world. There were girls from so many different backgrounds, and I loved learning about how much we all actually had in common. In this program, I got to know their personalities outside of just being coders, and we all got along so well. I wish I could have met them in person, but I hope these connections will last a lifetime.I wish I found out about this program sooner, but I'm so glad I did it!