Every year, students from Manitoba high schools are invited to participate in a day of learning and spirited competitions in the form of a Programming Contest and Computer Science Fair. As high school students, we were able to experience a piece of the university's computer science curriculum, ask questions of current students, make connections with future students, and actively learn about the many facets of studying computer science.
Balmoral Hall School entered both the Junior and Senior levels of competition. Mia Battad, Irina Znamirowski, Una Mayberry, Zoë Zaretzky, Yu "Evelyn" Yan, and I coded our way through challenging problem statements, competing with high school programmers across Winnipeg. Kaylee Nguyen presented her drawing program and Payton Klassen presented her version of a Tamagotchi toy to a panel of judges in the Junior Computer Science Fair. Competing at the Senior level of the Computer Science Fair, Mia Battad presented her Word Clouds program and placed second overall.
Throughout the course of the day, we interacted with like-minded peers, listening to presentations on artificial intelligence, co-op programs, and more, all the while fostering our shared passion for computer science!