How a 3-Year Old Ended Up Joining a Binance Labs Hackathon
The mission of building a blockchain-powered world is open to anyone, even young children. Here’s the story of how 3-year-old Chloe became part of the Game Oasis Hackathon sponsored by Binance Labs and many other blockchain projects.
Binance Labs is co-hosting the Game Oasis Hackathon, a global gaming hackathon formed in collaboration with Cocos-BCX, Celer Network, Contentos, and Matic Network. We have received numerous interesting applicants, but one particular developer caught our attention. Chloe is the youngest developer we have at the hackathon. How young? Chloe is three years old.
We interviewed Chloe’s mother to find out more about Chloe’s current path in the computing world.
We’re still accepting entries for the Game Oasis Hackathon until September 2, 2019. Join the hackathon here!
Binance Blog: When did Chloe begin to study programming and what was it like? What kind of programming language can she use?
Chloe’s Mom: Chloe has been studying programming for three weeks, and she can use HTML Node.js programming. We met her mentor Xuan Jing at a get-together, where Xuan Jing realized Chloe is gifted in words and graphics and advised Chloe to study programming. Moreover, he took the initiative to mentor Chloe in all the steps, from typing and letter recognition to basic HTML web making format. In just two weeks, Chloe has had grasped basic HTML language and shortcuts.
Binance Blog: What is Chloe’s upbringing like? What are her hobbies?
Chloe’s Mom: I think putting a child in a suitable environment is the fastest way of boosting education. For Chloe to learn English, we enrolled her with an international kindergarten where she can study basic English and get to know basic English instructions. Other than that, we don’t impose English on her.
We want to make the learning process integrated with life. We let Chloe watch some English cartoons and we speak English to her in daily life. The results are inspiring. Now, Chloe’s English skills top the class, according to her teacher
We employ the same principle in programming study. After consulting with her mentor, I began to study HTML programming and coached Chloe for some time on a daily basis. This way, Chloe got to understand programming and what programming can fulfill.
She is growing up in a relaxed and joyful environment without too much pressure. When we introduced her to programming, we don’t actually expect her to grow into a great programmer in a short time. But I do believe parents’ participation in an immersive way can bring a positive impact to kids.
As for hobbies, she doesn’t have broad interests. She does like cartoons, music, and delicious food.
Binance Blog: What has promoted her to participate in Game Oasis Hackathon? What does she expect from the event?
Chloe’s Mom: Chloe’s mentor, Xuan Jing, will take part in the event, and that’s the main reason why Chloe is joining. In Xuan Jing’s mind, now that Chloe has started to study programming, it’s better to review the results periodically. He is very confident in Chloe.
As Chloe’s mom, I believe the hackathon is a good chance for her to meet talented people in the field and broaden her horizon on one hand. Meanwhile, the competitive nature of the event makes it an educational experience that will encourage Chloe to take on challenges.
I don’t really care about the accomplishments; participating means everything. But it will be exhilarating if Xuan Jing can lead the team to win. Xuan Jing is a very smart and brilliant person, who has proved himself with great achievements. Despite that, he takes his mentorship of Chloe seriously, and he has searched for coaching tools and plans on his own.
We don’t think Chloe has exceptional gifts over her peers, but we do believe the environment where she grows up and her parents’ intervention will make a difference. When she becomes truly interested in something and is confident in herself, it’s the start of obtaining the goal.