Meet a Tutor: Jack Brown

Meet a Tutor: Jack Brown

Jack Brown

Computer Science student at James Martin High School. Starting at Oklahoma University this August!

Tell us about yourself…

I’m a graduating senior in high school, and I’ve been coding for six years now. I compete in several of Texas’s state-wide academic competitions, particularly in Science and Computer Science. When I’m not coding, I play guitar and banjo for fun, I play cello in my school orchestra and my city’s youth orchestra, and I train new leaders at Boy Scout camp.

How did you get into coding?

I started coding in 7th grade on my TI-83 graphing calculator. I loved the idea of making my calculator do special things that I wanted it to, and by freshman year I’d jumped from formulas to full-on games.

Do you have a favorite program that you’ve worked on so far?

In January, my computer science class received a technology grant to purchase new development platforms. We wanted to use Android OS, so we picked the OUYA game console. We used the Corona environment to make development easy, and though we had to learn a whole new language, the four of us managed to build Pong in just a couple of weeks. Right now, we’re using Corona’s cross-platform tools to make a math-adventure game for our elementary schools for both iOS and Android devices, including our OUYAs!

Any fun (or funny) facts about you?

I’m not a comedian, but I’m pretty adept at puns — to the point where most my friends now make puns, without thinking about it. I guess you could say they’re getting with program.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Cappuccino Chunky Chocolate

Words of advice for the next generation of coders?

Don’t get discouraged when things seem to challenging, or not worth the effort. You’ll always have someone there to help you, if you ask.