My name is Caleb Plouffe, and I’m currently a student at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School. I’ve always been interested in computers and video games for as long as I can remember, which led me to join the Computer Science program. Ever since I started learning about HTML 5, I’ve enjoyed coding and learning new coding languages. One of the things I like most about Computer Science is being able to later work on games that could hopefully bring new groups of kids and people in general together, similar to my own friend group. So far in high school, I’ve had the chance to learn the basics of 7 coding languages and work on many group projects.

During my time in Computer Science class, I’ve learned to work with many coding languages such as: Python, HTML5, Javascript, Java, C#, linux, and mySQL. I have used these languages on various programs including CodeHS, Github desktop, ProjectSTEM, Unity, VSCode, and BlueJay. Some of my favorite projects include my sophomore year create task, my freshman year python story assignment, and the breakout game that my class and I all worked on. In my Sophomore year create task, I made a circle that was able to take in user input to make the circle change colors within the base rgb color set. In the python story assignment, we made it so that you could choose 2 different paths and they would result in different outcomes depending on what you did. Finally in the breakout game, we implemented 3 different kinds of brick, the basic brick which breaks after a set amount of health, the infinite brick which has infinite health, and the splitter brick that has 1 health and splits into more bricks as it’s broken. Through these assignments, I’ve developed skills in communication with my classmates and teachers, creativity, and enthusiasm to learn more and more about coding languages. Working on projects like learning java basics and functions taught me how to explore my resources better in order to solve some issues that I may have. I’ve also learned the importance of teamwork, debugging, creativity, and persistence while coding.

After high school, I plan to attend college to study game design or app development. I’m interested in pursuing a degree in game design/app development because I have made so many friends just through some of my friends online. Many of the people that I was introduced to became good friends of mine and I would like to give that opportunity to others and bring people together. The college I’m most interested in is BSU or Wentworth, since they offer some sort of computer science programs and I have not researched much into colleges. I hope to continue improving my skills in software development and game design. My long-term goal is to join a bigger corporation so that I can start up my own smaller business if I learn enough about ownership and running an industry.

In the future, I’d like to work as a software engineer or a game designer because I enjoy actually writing code and I don’t think I would really mind making maps or shaping objects within a game. I also do like somewhat of a challenge with coding, so making real apps for others to use will feel good to me. I’m drawn to that career because I’ve liked gaming ever since I was maybe 7-8 years old when I watched some youtubers play Minecraft. I started to explore some code in 6th grade with scratch, but didn’t really understand it. When I joined Old Colony, I was shown what could actually be done with coding and given enough time, could be a very easy to understand topic. I want to create apps and games that connect people to work together and compete to do better. Due to being young and having morals, I would not want to make a game pay to win, but I would want there to be a way to sort of just donate to the company that I would work at. I believe the skills I’m learning now will help me get into these jobs and bond with more people, because the computer science industry has many people. I hope to find someone that understands the same things as me.

Outside of computer science, I also enjoy watching movies, anime, and playing video games. I have started watching a lot of different horror movies and liked many of them. My favorite anime to date has to be one piece and my runner up is Naruto. My favorite video games are Dead by Daylight, Bloons Tower Defense 6, Borderlands series, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Clash Royale. I do also like playing board games with my family such as monopoly, the game of life, or even trivial pursuit. In my free time, you can usually find me cooped up in my room talking with friends or watching a movie. When I’m not coding, I like to discuss activities that I have done or will do with friends if I’m not already doing said activity.