Winner! The 3 #BackToSchool Supplies Necessary to Boost Learning

By Isiah Rosa.

Isiah is a rising junior high school student from Brooklyn, New York.

Isiah working at All Star Code

I am a student, coder, and an activist. As of the writing of this essay, I currently do not have a laptop to call my own. A.K.A “thanks for letting me use your laptop dad!.”  It is essential for me to have a Chromebook Flip, bag from Griffin, and Internet On The Go MiFi for school and outside projects.  Here is how these three supplies will boost my learning.  

1) Internet On The Go MiFi

The MiFi is probably the most amazing invention ever, because I have had many a time when I wanted to work on a project, and I just couldn’t because the public WiFi was a mess *cough* Starbucks *cough*, or it was the end of the month and I couldn’t afford to go over my data plan. Honestly, seven gigabytes is NOT enough.

2) Bag from Griffin

Bags are the quintessential school supply. It is useful for my learning because it will be able to store all of my supplies (pens, pencils, books, binders, and a laptop among other things) to and from school.

3) Chromebook Flip

The MiFi and bag mean nothing without the Chromebook Flip. Here is how this laptop/tablet will help me with my school work, activism, and coding.  

School work

With this new laptop, I could work on school projects and presentations using Google Slides, and write essays using Google Docs. Google Drive would become my sanctuary for schoolwork. The cloud is my best friend! No more notebooks! Save the trees!

Activism

I could use the Chromebook Flip to help build my network to organize and coordinate rallies and protests for movements using Facebook and Twitter. I could also use social media to keep in touch with fellow activists and network with others. This last winter my fellow classmates organized a schoolwide rally to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Our protest was big enough and loud enough that CNN caught wind of us and sent the chopper to track us. With the laptop I could network with friends outside of school and help organize even larger protests to keep these movements alive.

Coding

Now for the coding part. This summer I worked at All Star Code, a prep program which connects young men of color to the tech industry. At ASC (All Star Code), I learned programming languages such Python and Javascript, and used them to create games and websites. The project I’m currently working on is called NEX. NEX is a video game discovery service aimed to make shopping for video games like browsing the app store on a phone or tablet. With the laptop, I would be able to work on NEX anywhere and everywhere, which is something I would very much like to do.

The Chromebook Flip, bag from Griffin,  and Internet On The Go MiFi will help me pursue and grow the important work I am pursuing both inside of school and for outside of school projects.  Thank you for this opportunity and for considering my entry.

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Editor’s Note:  This post was submitted in response to the contest: Your Chance to Win The Only 3 #BacktoSchool Supplies Necessary This Year.