Sumer is our Director of USACO Education and is an expert in competition programming. He reached USACO Platinum in high school and went on to compete for Stanford’s ACM-ICPC team. Now he oversees our team of mentors working with students to advance in USACO, and also striving to make the studying more exciting by building community.
When did you start to code?
I started to code in 9th grade by taking a class at my high school.
Why is it important for kids to start coding when young?
I think it is super important to learn to code from a young age because if you’re not exposed to the subject, you’ll never know if you like it. It’s a hard thing to develop if you find you love it later in life.
What do you find rewarding about teaching kids how to code?
I find it rewarding to see the gears churning in kids’ heads as they solve problems. At the end of the day, computer science is just a medium to satiate their puzzle solving skills and I love to help them strengthen those skills by doing something they love.