Featured Maker: Zion Wants to be a Mechanical Engineer!

Last Updated: July 11, 2023 10:56 am
Featured Maker: Zion Wants to be a Mechanical Engineer!

Meet our newest Featured Maker, 10-year-old Zion from New York! Zion likes to code and play hockey and soccer. Terrific! Zion recently spoke with us about his experience coding with Tynker.

Do you have an idea of what you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a mechanical engineer.

What’s your favorite subject in school and why?

My favorite subject is science because in science, I get to engineer and  I get to think more deeper.

How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding?

So first, it started out on a website called Scratch. And then we were doing Scratch in our school, and then our computer teacher introduced us into Tynker. And then when I started Tynker, I really liked it, and then I did Tynker for three years.

How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? What are your favorite Tynker courses or tutorials?

So I was looking at Tynker videos that they did, and I was just playing around with their Tynker code and the instructions. And then I just started to play around with the code and then I just started to learn and use code properly.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured?

I was really excited and proud of myself.

How’d you get inspiration for your projects?

I’ve been looking at other projects, and I have found out­­ I just got an idea of what to make.

What is your favorite way to use code? Do you have a favorite code block?

I like the one­start block because if I use that, everything starts, and sometimes when I get a bit crazy, I like using the forever block. Because I can just keep letting things just keep going and going.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? Do you debug it, show it to someone, publish it?

Usually, with my older sister, I sometimes show it to her and we search for bugs and stuff like that.

What’s the best thing about Tynker?

Probably the nice community and the good of sprite and the blocks. And it just makes it more fun to code.

How do you think learning to code has prepared you for the future?

I’m learning to code to get me to be an engineer or because when I need to or­­ a computer game maker, or a website maker, because all of those would have to include code in it.

What’s a fun fact about you?

Coding makes me happy.

We spoke with Zion’s mom about Zion learning to code

So how do you feel about Zion learning to code? How does it feel to see the coding projects he is making?

Well, I wonder how he made those. It’s fascinating. I mean, coding rather than just playing game. It’s really great way to go.

What benefits do you think coding has for your child? What skills besides the technical skill of learning to code does it help him learn?

Oh, he’s learning a new language, computer language, and it’s something that will be very useful for him.

Do you feel like your child is better prepared for the future?

Yeah, and thank God, he likes to code.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us about coding with Tynker. We can’t wait to see what Zion creates next – HAPPY CODING!

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About Leandra McGriff

Leandra Mcgriff is an educator community specialist at Tynker. She has a background in Computer Science and was a teacher for 6 years. She has taught in her hometown in Alabama, and has taught internationally. She loves teaching kids how to bring their imagination to life through coding.