HSCC Testimonial: Syed Azfar (Boston Metrowest)

One of the powerful aspects of the BDPA experience is the work we do with young people. We seek to introduce young people to technology at a young age so that they have an option of creating a future for themselves in the information technology (IT) industry.

Here is the story of a young man, Syed Azfar, who participated in the student IT education & scholarship (SITES) program hosted by BDPA Boston Metrowest chapter back in 2004:

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Before I joined BDPA in 2004, I did not know anything about developing websites. All I did on the computer was play games and instant message with friends. It all changed when I joined the BDPA Boston Metrowest chapter. Every Saturday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, we met in Cambridge, MA and started going over HTML. It did not take me long to develop an interest in creating websites. As soon as the first session was over, I went home and started writing codes from the HTML book that I received from the program. The examples given in the book allowed me to understand the basics, which helped me to merge it into a website. During the next few months, we learned how to create databases and connect website to it in order to view and save information.

After months of training, it was time to put it to the test. We flew down to Dallas, Texas for three days to participate in the high school computer competition. The competition took place in two parts.

The first part was the oral, where we answered questions on the history of the information technology (IT) industry and the organization.

The second part involved developing a website for a video company. The website would need to access a database of movies and based on the query would need to provide the results. We only had 8 hours to complete this task. Looking around the massive room, it was evident that the next couple of hours would test our knowledge and our focus. After we were done with the competition, we were encouraged to attend the seminars given by IT professionals on different topics ranging from the new structures of developing websites to emerging technologies to the future growth of the IT field.

Attending that BDPA conference was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had and to this day I am still part of BDPA and I encourage young students to join this great organization. I am very fortunate to have learned about this organization and to be part of it.

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Syed Azfar is currently a student at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) majoring in Electrical/Computer Engineering. He is a web development fanatic who loves using new technologies to enhance his web skills. He created his own company to develop websites for his clients.

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