He shared his thoughts about the BDPA experience with us in the following testimonial:
Meeting new people that share the same enthusiasm for learning as you is hard to find. Luckily, I found a place where I can meet those people. That place is BDPA. I have not heard of BDPA until my junior year of High School. Not knowing much about the program, I ventured out with my parents and drove forty minutes to the meeting. Once there, it was more than I expected. The people were welcoming and what they taught me will last a life time.
The main instructor, Wes Williams, we call him “Coach Wes,” explained the goal and view of BDPA. He may be strict at times but he is always right. There were tons of people who have the same enthusiasm as I during the 2011 BDPA HSCC championship. All of us wanted to prove what we learned, and to do their best. In the competition room, there were tensions among teams during the questions as well as the coding part of the competition. My teammates and I were prepared for this day for more than half a year. We all know that it is very nerve wrecking, we kept each other calm. From questions to presenting the web application, I gave it all I had. The result was nothing less than I hoped for.
Some sacrifices had to be made before I could follow the path of computer science. The long hour drive back and forth every Saturday was very discouraging. However, I believe that if you try hard enough, there’s going to be a reward at the end. My experience with BDPA had taught me to not only program but to become a different person.
BDPA taught me responsibility and the value of hard work. These things will be carried with me for the rest of my life. I have acquired some work experience when joining the BDPA Atlanta Chapter. I had to opportunity to intern at Impact Church. During my internship, I created a web application for the community that allows members to interact in connection groups. This experience helped me develop my own skills as well as social interactions among other people.
My career goal is to excel in the development of technology as well as to grow in leadership and knowledge that will provide solutions to world problems. I intend to major in the Computer Science at the University of Georgia.
I would like to thank BDPA with all my heart for the experience and opportunity that I had.
BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very proud of Sunheng and his teammates within the BDPA Atlanta chapter. We plan to follow him through his college career and beyond. Sunheng is the embodiment of our 'classroom to the boardroom' motto!
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All - Sunheng was a member of the BDPA Atlanta HSCC team in the following year (2012). That team won the national HSCC championship ... breaking up the 5-year winning streak of our BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter! Sunheng provided this addendum to his testimonial:
"The 2012 National High School Computer Competition was as intense as it was in the previous year. I saw many familiar faces from other chapters as well as some new ones. The Atlanta team was glad to be there. Although we were confident in our abilities, we were pretty nervous about what the competition had in store for us. To get our minds off the anxiety, our instructors took us to events organized by BDPA and toured the city. The day of the competition, we stayed surprisingly calm and ready to face the challenges ahead. The competition surely challenged our ability to work together as well as the knowledge of programming. Luckily, the team had been together since 2011 and we knew each other very well. At the end of the programming competition, we did our best and wait for the result on the next day. The night after the competition, we relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful city of Baltimore.
During the award ceremony, the instructors and the team were excited to see the result. We could barely eat during dinner. Finally, when the speaker began to announce the top five teams, everyone was on the edge of their seats. We didn't hear our chapter's name called out after the second place winner was announced. We were either first place or didn't place at all. Doubts filled our minds but hard work finally paid off, the first place belongs to Atlanta. The team was speechless but one of our instructors, Mr. Andre Barnes, had already ran ten laps around the room filled with joy and excitement before we could even get to the stage. I see that our team consisted of more than the four students participated in the competition. The team includes the whole chapter who dedicated their time and effort to make this opportunity possible. This competition will always forever remain one of the greatest moments of my life."
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