01//01 — SOURCE PARSING
My passion for coding and engineering started nearly 12 years ago, when a 10-year-old me discovered I could create nearly any simple video game I could imagine on Scratch, a visual block-based coding platform made for kids to start their programming journeys early. Throughout my youth, I would code my heart out for hours on that website, letting my creative desires run free. Believe it or not, my old account and some projects are still visible on the website to this day (https://scratch.mit.edu/users/calcitedragon/)!
//02 — AST CONSTRUCTION
Fast forward to high school, and I decided I wanted to level up my game. I took my first computer science class and learned my first real programming language—Java. With this tool, I could do so much, but the only thing I really wanted with it had to do with my favorite video game at the time, and thus my Minecraft plugin development era began. I probably learned how to program in Java more from making these plugins than I did from my actual classes. Some of the plugins I was most proud of include a long-running factions-style team survival game with custom items that I played with my friends, and a plugin that can turn any Minecraft map into a hide-and-seek minigame. Most of my projects from this era are now heavily outdated and not maintained, but I left one up on GitHub in case I wanted to revisit it one day (see projects section).
//03 — BYTECODE GENERATION
College is where I really started to build more real-world skills and broaden my knowledge. Since I participated in Running Start in high school, I was able to go straight into the computer science program at Bellevue College shortly after graduating high school. The coursework ran deep—everything from algorithms, machine learning, compilers, and computer architecture to Git workflows, TDD, APIs, and software design patterns—and it ended with my longest-running team project to date: my senior capstone, which was selected for the North Seattle & Bellevue College Senior Capstone Showcase in Seattle.
//04 — JIT OPTIMIZATION
Since graduating in December 2025, I have focused on shipping real software, like my full-stack multiplayer bingo web app, built solo from match engine to deployment. I also helped develop the software for a robot that competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition, where I owned subsystem control work like intake-arm homing and climber safety limits. (To clarify, it's called "FIRST"; we didn't place first, unfortunately, haha.) These projects and experiences helped me apply what I learned in college and gain practical insight into developing real systems, both independently and as part of a team — and now I'm looking for a team where I can keep doing exactly that.
