Hi! I'm Matt, the co-president of Alhambra's Computer Science Club. I took some of the questions that Mrs. McGarrah sent me and spent a couple hours answering them down below. As always, if you have any more questions, feel free to send them to my school email at _pradomatthew@martinez.k12.ca.us. These responses are from my own opinion, so they may not reflect the rest of the club's. There were some questions that I did ask some of them to help me answer.

PLEASE SEE - IMPORTANT

Do you have to be in 8th grade to do the AP Computer Science class next year if you are already going to be there for math?

I definitely did NOT think about this. Let me check in with administration, and I'll email you privately.

Is it possible to take more than one workshop at a time?

We are aware that the drama after school production is happening concurrently. Please email me at _pradomatthew@martinez.k12.ca.us for any scheduling concerns. We'll try our best.

Is taking a CS class or doing a CS club encouraged?

Absolutely! Computer science is involved in every aspect of life, and it's great to be aware of it. In addition, most CS classes here have AP designation which boosts your GPA AND gives you college credit. In fact, most universities require their students to take an Introduction to Computer Science class, and passing the AP exam for AP Computer Science Principles will fulfill that. Sticking with a CS club throughout all four years of high school looks good for college admissions, and the people you meet there can definitely help in other fields. If you are looking into getting into a CS-related field, then all of this is even more important for you.

High-school related ?s

Is freshman year hard? (x2)

No. In fact, it's probably going to be the easiest year of high school. I mean sure, there will be differences with school life, but you'll get adjusted pretty quickly. Just don't slack off and make the most out of your first year!

Are there any sports that have both boys and girls in a team?

If you don't count Mock Trial, Music, and CS club related activities as sports, football and cheer (stunt, sideline, and comp) are. If you mean the team in general, track & field, wrestling, swimming, and cross-country have people of all sexes in their team, although events are not judged the same (ie: men and women's 100m are judged differently). Here is all the fall, winter, and spring sports offered at Alhambra. Sports that are clubs (such as Badminton) have no sex restriction. Feel free to contact _keiferjack@martinez.k12.ca.us for any other related questions.

Can you have your phone out and is it boring?

On campus, most people have their phones out. However, there are some classrooms where the teacher will not allow you to have your phone out (this is the exception). High school isn't really boring. But I'd be lying to you if I said that there weren't any days that I didn't find boring.

How much time do you have for passing period?

5 minutes. But in the middle of days we have something called long passing which is 15 minutes. We are changing schedules next year, so this information may not be up-to-date by the time you come up here.

How much harder is high school than middle school?

It definitely depends. Some say it's a lot more fun because of the teachers and the electives that they can pick. Someone can graduate from high school with no extracurriculars or AP classes at all, although I don't recommend that. For someone who is involved in the valedictorian race (that is getting rank 1 from your year) or wants to get into an extremely competitive college, it's a totally different game. It has people balancing various AP classes, doing college classes, having a job, doing their extracurriculars, and living a social life all at the same time. If you have good time management and know your classes well, it should still be a realistic goal.
To be honest, the hardest math class I took was Mrs. Bower's Math 7E class. lol

How hard are the classes?

Depends on the subject + teacher you're taking. For example, precalculus is an easy class given that you have a good teacher (and paid attention during Algebra II), but there might be a teacher (whose name will not be spoken) who will make life very hard and give you lots of homework. If you take the AP version of classes, such as Chemistry to AP Chemistry, then it will be harder since more topics are covered and you'll have to prepare for the exam later on in the year. However, all AP classes are not the same. A lot of students, for example, find AP Environmental Science a lot easier than AP Chemistry.

Do you have a lot of homework?

Like the classes, this depends all on the subject & teacher. Teachers may be on different pacing than others who have the same subject, so it's really tough to give a solid answer. One Physics class may have no homework since they make good use of class time, while another will have 45 min of homework. Realistically, if you employ good time management, even with AP classes, your homework should take no more than 30-45 min per subject.
I will tell you this: Teachers don't communicate with each other in terms of your workload, so you'll have to balance it out. Some teachers are forgiving though, and you can feel free to ask for extensions/exemptions.

How hard are the finals?

Like the classes, depends on the subject + teacher you're taking. Some classes don't even have finals; you'll often find this with AP class since they're already taking an exam at the end of the year anyway. It also depends on your grades during that semester. I had a high enough grade in Chemistry that I turned in the final without submitting any questions and still ended with a 105%. Meanwhile, a core class that I may be on a borderline A in such as Geometry is something that I want to study for a bit more.

How fun is it?

Both the high school and computer science club are very fun! In terms of the club, you meet a lot of friends, advance your career, and honestly just have a good time. We like to have a lot of fun as you can see with Minecraft, our potlucks, among other stuff. In high school, it's about as fun as you make it. If you don't get involved in anything, high school will be really boring. You should be making the most out of your four years at high school because time flies by SUPER fast, and you can only experience this once. Join all the clubs, sports, and activities that Alhambra has to offer.

Is high school scary?

Scary? No. Intimidating? At the start. There's lots of things that change when you initially arrive, but as long as you have your friends, you should be able to survive just fine! I promise, no one bites! (okay, maybe that's a lie) Your biggest concern at high school should probably be stress. Most students are stressed and everyone has their days when they have to let a few tears out, whether that be due to pressures at home or at school, but as long as you try your best, then there's really nothing you can do about it and life moves on.

Was it hard initially?

Whether this means computer science or high school, it definitely was. As with all things, it all depends on the amount of effort, or as I like to refer more to it, "grit." It gets easier the more you do it. While the difficulty of the subjects may increase, your experiences in past classes will make them easier.

Is it hard to balance extracurriculars with classes + homework?

This truly depends on the individual. I am personally a huge procrastinator with a lot of things to do, so I employ strategies such as the Pomodoro method to keep me on time. In addition, not everyone has to go crazy with the amount of stuff they do. I'm in college, take AP classes, have a job, run some nonprofits alongside other extracurriculars yet at the same time not everyone repeats the same thing because they can't manage their time as well. But, safe to say that I'm living life just fine. :)

Personal ?s

What is my favorite part about being in the club?

Definitely working with my friends. There's a lot of computer science related things I do in my free time alone, but nothing beats making stupid mistakes with the people you know.

What was my favorite event in the club?

Definitely the holiday frolic fundraiser this year. Had a lot of friends there and one of the best experiences post-pandemic.

Will I still code in college?

Yep. Planning to major in Computer Science. Maybe as time moves on, and I get into a career, I will be doing less coding and more managing people who do code. So still very important to know!

What was your best and most favorite project?

Probably the website you're reading these questions on. Took a lot of time, and it's my favorite way to express myself.

How does it feel teaching college students?

Honestly, the same. It's just like giving a presentation to an adult audience, although others may find it different. You'll find that regardless of age, people have different learning styles, and there's no one technique that masters teaching.

What inspired me to join computer science?

I played a lot of World of Warcraft when I was young, and I was always interested in how they made it. While I may not have an interest in working in the game industry anymore, there is no doubt that World of Warcraft made a huge contribution for why I am in computer science. You also don't have to love computer science to join; I know a lot of people who are majoring in computer science simply because of the money. While a lot of people say that you should do what you love in life, that's only realistic if you can pay for what you need.

CS related ?s

How can we learn about robotics & coding?

Come to the meetings! But if you want to get a head start now, there are lots of online resources to help you. To get started on robotics, I'd say you learn how to code as well. I recommend Harvard's CS50 to start. I took the class a while ago, and one of my friends at Harvard was a teacher's aide! From there on, you want to figure out what you want to use your programming skills for. For example, robotics uses Java, so learn several Java-based projects. If you want to create websites, I'd learn first the fundamentals of HTML/CSS through YouTube, and deploy a website. Then I'd learn a framework for JavaScript such as React, and it's just an endless rabbit hole from there.

How long does it take to create projects?

Depends on the technologies you're working with, the amount of people there are, how experienced are you in the subject, among other things. For example, feltinitiative.org probably took me around a couple hours at most, while this website took me several weeks due to the differences in programming languages I used.

How do you use Java, and where can I learn how to use it?

Java is used here at the high school to develop the robot. In the real world, Java (along with Kotlin) is used to make Android mobile apps. Java is taught in the AP Computer Science A class at Alhambra, but there are many online resources on YouTube that can help you get started.

What is the hardest part of coding?

For me personally (and others as well), debugging. I hate it when I know the problem but don't know how to fix it. Thankfully, the online tech community is wonderful and Stack Overflow (aka Google) solves most of my problems.

"What kinda cash you getting paid for this?"

A lot. Tech money is good money as long as you aren't in academia. Unfortunately, many of our teachers are being underpaid and do not enjoy many of the benefits as those who work in tech companies.

What was the most & least successful project?

The most successful project of CS Club has been the revival of the cybersecurity program. Taking home 3 regional championships and two statewide prizes has been absolutely crazy, and we'd love to see that trend continue when we all graduate.
Our least successful project has definitely been the earlier stages of Robotics. We compete with robotics teams that have a lot of experience and funding, so we definitely were struggling a long time ago.

Club related ?s

What grades do you need to join most clubs (x4)?

We'd appreciate you focus on your academics first if grades are a bit low. That being said, there are no formal grade requirements to be in the club. To join other clubs at Alhambra though, such as the National Honor Society or the California Scholarship Federation, you'll need to be in the top 30% of your class or have a weighted 3.5 GPA respectively.

How do you join clubs (x2)?

When you're in high school, we hold these events every semester called club fairs. This is where clubs advertise their purpose. Instagram is also another resource that clubs like to use. You can find more info about the clubs at their Instagram. For us, as long as you show up to a meeting, you are considered a member of the club.

How long is a typical meeting?

General meetings are held at lunch so 30 minutes. Meetings for branches (eg: Cybersecurity & Robotics) are after school and last an hour at most.

How many people have ever joined the club?

This year, we hit a peak membership of about 80 (the largest club at about 10% of the student population). In total, I would say roughly 700. People come and go, as people either lose interest or graduate.

How did we start/found our club?

I'd say we have two founding dates. The initial start of the club back in 2012 and its modern form with branches which started this year. I talked to the teacher who advised the club, Ms. Salas, and it originally started with cybersecurity. They used to participate in a league called Cyberpatriots which was an event hosted by the Air Force Academy. We would have school days dedicated to competing in the competitions, but budget concerns cancelled the program. Maybe we'll start it up again. Robotics has been fairly the same ever since its creation, although with a different advisor. Women in STEM has changed programs throughout the years, but has always focused on its mission of empowering non-male individuals through scholarships and workshops.
As for the branches, we noticed that the pandemic had severely deprived us of both members and opportunities, and coming together was the only way to ensure our survival. That's why all the branches can operate on their own, as they were at one point their own club.

What else do we do?

We have a branch that we didn't mention called Opportunities; we didn't mention this because it doesn't appeal to middle schoolers as much. This is a branch that I spearhead myself, and it teaches you more of the non-tech side of tech (doesn't make sense I know). This involves learning where to get money, building your professional portfolio for jobs, among other things. We do stuff like resume building, personal website development, LinkedIn, and a lot more.

What school can you get into with this experience? What kind of jobs can you get with this experience?

There's no guarantee to get into a school of your choice. In fact, pretty much the entire college admissions game is pretty much a lottery. No amount of qualification can really guarantee whether you get in or not. Really just depends on the person who is reviewing your application. But as you saw, these opportunities have helped people such as one of our Women in STEM director Kawthar get into Yale, which is a highly prestigious Ivy League school. Extracurriculars HELP the application, not guarantee it.
As for your second question, it's pretty much the same situation and depends on the field you want to go in. If you want to be a Software Engineer (which involves a lot of coding), having a couple coding projects in your belt alongside knowing data structures, algorithms, and practicing interview questions (often referred to as Leetcode) will increase your chances of getting accepted. That being said, there are many roles in tech from being a Data Scientist, Project Manager, Product Manager, among others.

Where do we get the money for projects?

Mostly me. And a couple rich people from the finance/tech industry.

Can we make FNAF Animatronics?

Feel free to start an animation branch at the club!

Robotics-related ?s

Is Jeremy ok?

We fixed him up two days after the visit. Still a work in progress.

When did I start doing robotics?

This year. I just fund expensive things and hold stuff for the people who know what they're doing.

What do you do if the robot fails?

It fails all the time, but the most important part is to try again. Whether that means to try an alternate solution or buy more parts, we always want the next robot to be our best.

How long did it take for the robot to make?

To this day, it is still being worked on. The demo you saw was around two days worth of work.

How do you make a robot?

Robotics is a time-consuming process and one that really depends on what you're making it for. Although we started building the physical aspect of the robot a week ago, the design and the programming of the robot was planned much further in advance. In general, the process goes like this: find out what to build, draft, buy parts, build, test, improve, finish.

Cybersecurity-related ?s

How many championships have you won?

I don't know for robotics. For cybersecurity, before my team went into retirement, we won 3 out of the 4 regionals we took place in (we only lost our first season). As for collegiate championships, we've podiumed both times.

How do you get someone's IP address?

There's honestly a lot of ways. We use a program called Wireshark which traces the incoming packets between computers. Come to the club meetings, and you'll find out more!

Why did they break into an ATM?

It was part of our regionals competition, so in order to win, we had to successfully break it.

Where did you get the ATM to hack?

It was provided to us at the competition. We didn't take it home, but they did give us a lot of food and drink to take home!

How to hack an ATM?

Come to the club meetings!

Minecraft-related ?s

Is the MC server Java or Bedrock?

Java.

Who is the best PvP fighter?

You mentioned Minecraft in your comments, so I assume you mean that. That would have to be Eugene, but he wasn't present at the presentation.

How to get good at Minecraft?

I'm not good at Minecraft. Eugene says to watch a lot of YouTube guides, put in the time, and learn things that might give you the upper hand (such as an auto clicker).

Random ?s

How are they so tall?

Age. Genetics. Nutrition. Ask Ms. Leach that.

If I want to see you whenever, can I?

...Sure?