My name is Aideen McHugh. I'm 18 and attend Slemish College in Ballymena. I study Maths, Physics and Software Systems Development at A-Level.

I have been passionate about technology since I was a child. I loved playing on my Nintendo DS and I dreamed of someday being able to make games just as well as some of my favourites. Over the years, my focus has shifted towards software development, which I intend to pursue a career in, however I still have a passion for making short games as well as a hobby. I primarily use C#, however I have used Python and Javascript as well.

I got involved in IglooCode when my friend Daniel suggested the idea to me at our code club one day. We run an after-school club for Year 8 and 9 students at our school, which I started last year, and I thoughti t would be a really great idea. Initially, we planned to bring together our code club with the one at Strathearn, ran by our friend Emma who we met at CyberFirst over the summer, however we widened our horizons which resulted in 16 different schools coming together. One of my main intentions with IglooCode was making sure it was cross-community, as someone who has been in integrated education since P3, I understand the importance of bringing kids from different backgrounds together. This is why we invited so many schools and didn't limit it to certain backgrounds, beliefs, or where they were academically selective – even though the competition was the main event, the students would still have an opportunity to make friends they would never have met otherwise.

One of my main takeaways from running IglooCode was how much thought and planning goes into events like it. When I have attended competitions in the past, I hadn't realised how much effort went into every single choice made. It really made me appreciate the dedication that people who plan and organise competitions have, especially throughought the long process of developing the idea into what it comes. As well as this, seeing how passionate the students were throughout the day inspired me, as something I care about is passing on my love for coding and technology onto others. The impact that we made on the students by arranging the competition isn't one that can be measured in a traditional sense, but from their constant excited buzz throughout the day, it was clear that they had a great time. This has made us eager to run IglooCode in the future.