Clarke County is full of talented and extremely intelligent youth. One of these amazing youth is Akira DeLoach.
Akira has a special interest in programming that started when he was first entering middle school.
“Programming has been something I like to do for a while now,” said Akira. “I first got an interest for it around sixth grade. Around seventh and eighth grade, I started taking summer classes to improve my coding skills.”
His skills progressed over the years, and he began to put his skills to the test by entering contests. He was persistent, and his persistence paid off. This year, he was declared the winner of the Congressional App Challenge.
“In tenth grade, I actually entered the app challenge for the first time. I got second then. This year when I entered, I was able to win my district as the Mississippi Third District Winner of the Congressional App Challenge,” explained Akira. “Both years, I focused on making Android apps, and I focused on making them educational. Last year, I did an app that helps students memorize formulas for algebra, geometry, and subjects like that. This year, I did more of a history based app just to quiz students about various time periods in history. I haven’t put either one on the Android Play Store as of now. I would like to do that with the history based one I made this past year once I improve upon it and add some of the things I wanted and wasn’t able to include because of time constraints.”
Akira really loves how programming pushes him and can show him what he is really capable of, but it does come with its challenges.
“My favorite part is that I always feel like I’m learning something new each time. Even if I’m not creating an app and just programming on my own to see what I can do, I’ll often explore concepts. Then, I’ll become fascinated with it, and it makes me want to keep going and find out more about it,” declared Akira. “The hardest part is definitely trying to debug programs and make sure there are no errors in the program, especially if you’re writing larger programs. When you’re writing code, if you’re missing one little mark such as a semicolon when you’re typing, it can mess up your whole program. It’s important to make sure that you don’t make small mistakes like that.”
Akira designs his apps as educational apps because he truly values his education and loves to be able to learn something new. As a junior at Enterprise High School, he is very involved and participates in multiple academic clubs and programs at the school. In fact, some of his best memories are from being able to use his knowledge with one of the clubs he is involved in.
“I was the president of FBLA this past year. Recently, I was nominated as president for our school’s National Honor Society for the coming year. I’m also involved in our school’s BETA Club,” said Akira. “With FBLA Club, each year we can compete with a variety of competitive events. Honestly, just being able to use some of my knowledge to help me in more of the technology related competitions and being able to advance to state and even national level because of that are some of my favorite memories.”
He has plans to continue his education, and naturally, he intends to go into a career that matches his interest in programming. He made a 35 on the last ACT he took, but he hasn’t entirely made a decision on where he will go to college once he graduates.
“Right now, I’ve been looking into the engineering fields, and I know it does sometimes tend to have programming involved,” informed Akira. “My dream college that I want to get into is MIT. It’s definitely at the top of my list. Some other colleges I’ve been looking into are Georgia Tech, Michigan, and Virginia Tech. I’m mainly looking at the colleges that I know have good engineering programs.”
Akira is very humble and giving, and he makes sure to do what he can to help contribute to different things.
“Usually, I help out with our school’s homecoming parade. I’ll help clean up after that,” stated Akira. “I know when we take in donations for food, jackets, and other things, I try to contribute to those. That’s just some of the things I do community service wise.”
Programming isn’t the only thing Akira is talented at. He is also musically inclined and enjoys being able to play the piano when he is able.
“One thing I like doing is playing piano. Because of scheduling, I’m not always able to fit it in, but I’ve been taking our school’s piano class whenever I can,” expressed Akira. “I took it both semesters my ninth grade year. I had to skip over my tenth grade year because of scheduling. I took it again this year, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be able to fit it in next year as well.”
His love and desire to learn have allowed him to receive awards over the years. Not only has he received multiple awards for highest average each year, but he has made a high enough score on the PSAT that he could possibly be given a much higher honor.
“This year we took the PSAT, and I made a 1480 on it,” Akira said. “From what I gather right now, that should qualify me to be a National Merit semifinalist. I’m hoping I can go all the way and become a finalist for that award.”
With his love of learning, it is easy for some to simply see him as a studious person, but there is much more to him. Akira has a variety of interests and is more than simply academics.
“One thing I think that people misjudge about me is that they think that all I do is study. While I do study enough to understand concepts and make good grades in school, I’m a relatively laid back person. One of the first things I do if I don’t have anything to study is get on the computer and play video games with my friends,” explained Akira. “I’m also a bit of an outdoorsy person as well. At least once a day, I try to walk somewhere outside. I usually do anywhere from half an hour to over an hour outside. I also like sightseeing a bit as well. I know when we go to see my brother in Missouri, I enjoy going sightseeing in places like St. Louis.”
Akira has strong goals for his future, and he works each day to achieve his goals. No matter what, he will continue to strive for excellence with an optimistic attitude. He will remain a great positive role model for others as he accomplishes everything he sets out to do.
