By: Aliya Koshalieva

Graphics Editor

If Sophomore Ryan Lin could describe himself using one word, he would use versatile because “when teaching, you constantly have to adapt.” Despite only being in his sophomore year of high school, Lin takes on a challenging course load, including TrigPreCalc Honors, Principles of Engineering, English 10 Honors, Chamber Orchestra, and Spanish 3. This year marks Lin’s sixth year in Orchestra and, hopefully, his second year on the tennis team. 

On top of taking seven classes, Lin is the Vice President of Curriculum at Computer Engineers of the Next Generation (CENG), a nonprofit organization that gives free coding classes to underprivileged students in our community. His job as a Vice President includes planning and perfecting the curriculum and teaching the students. He has three to four years of coding experience and teaches several coding languages, including Python, Dart, and Scratch. Through his parents, Lin discovered th4 group and joined during the 2020-2021 lockdown.  Unlike many other programs, CENG decided to continue holding a majority of its meetings virtually, namely through Zoom, a factor that is unique to their group.  “It allows us to have students from all over the world, so most of our students are based in California, but we have a couple students in Singapore and other parts of the US. So that’s really cool,” Lin said. 

According to Lin, when the class meets on Zoom, there is a 15-minute prep period for teachers before the students join, then they code for about two hours with breaks in between. He enjoys teaching as he utilizes his coding experience and, “when you get to teach these people…you’re giving [them] a chance to strive because the future is probably going to be all computer-science related.” Lin explained, “Yeah, you’re giving these kids like a chance. And to me, that makes me feel really good. Like you’re doing something good for the community.” 

The sophomore’s hard work has paid off, as volunteering at CENG qualified him for the President’s Volunteer Service Award not once, but twice. He won the Bronze Award last year, and this year he won the Gold Award. His goal from the very beginning has been to inspire people. Lin revealed, “we usually meet our goals because the people sign up for our classes. I mean, they’re not [paying to attend], they’re free classes, so they’re coming themselves. They’re entering the Zoom call themselves. Nobody’s forcing them, so you know that they’re interested. That’s a great feeling. You have these 20-30 kids in your Zoom meeting, all wanting to learn. That’s really epic.” 

In his free time, Lin enjoys swimming and playing tennis. “Tennis is a great way to meet new people,” he says. While juggling his classes and his job as a VP, Lin manages to excel in everything he does.