Swift Student Celebration.

Being the ICT Captain at an all-girls school, it’s no surprise that one of my passions is increasing gender equality within the tech industry. This summer, I participated in a one-week work experience with GirlGeekAcademy, where high school girls like me learned to code.

During this experience, I began learning Swift, the primary programming language for iOS devices. Using my newfound skills, I entered Apple’s Swift Student Challenge, an annual competition which gives thousands of student developers the opportunity to showcase their coding capabilities and develop skills that they can carry into their future careers.

My app, inspireHer, aims to inspire young girls to pursue tech by celebrating female pioneers and dismantling harmful stereotypes. What inspired the app was the lack of female representation in IT and engineering, fields that remain heavily male-dominated. I want young girls to feel confident to pursue technology, seeing it as an exciting and achievable career path.

The features of inspireHer include a portfolio section that highlights the journeys and achievements of female pioneers in tech, a collection of inspirational quotes to reinforce positive representation, and a myth-busting section that debunks common misconceptions about women in STEM. The app also offers a series of interactive, beginner-friendly challenges designed to help girls develop skills and build confidence step by step. 

On July 25th, I was honoured to be invited to attend the Swift Student Challenge Celebration at Apple’s Sydney headquarters. I got to meet and network with other like-minded young developers from across Australia and New Zealand and see the amazing projects everyone had been working on. One of the highlights was meeting the CEO of Halfbrick Studios (the same person behind the iconic Fruit Ninja), who shared stories about how he got started and insights into entrepreneurship. This was truly an unforgettable experience, and it made me even more excited to keep coding and creating projects that make an impact.

Arushi P (11F)