PC Building Workshop February
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned my joy when building my own computer. As months progressed, I felt that I wanted to do more than build a single computer. After much brainstorming, the idea of hosting a computer-building club or workshop was birthed; it would allow me to keep building computers whilst helping instill my passion among other students. As 2025 began, so did my preparations. I created a new email and sifted through hundreds of parts to create a budget yet efficient machine. Simultaneously, my parents aided me by booking a location for the workshop alongside advertising fliers my fliers. By mid-February, there were over 30 signups for my workshop. However, I felt that the idea teacher to student ratio would be 1:10. As a result, we invited around 15 children for the first workshop on February 22nd and 23rd. It was a success.
Around 10 children attended and were all very enthusiastic about learning to build a computer. The hands-on experience allowed them to feel a part of the process as opposed to simply listening to a lecture. Many even commented to their own parents how they wanted to build their own computers. After the workshop, we collected feedback from parents and got an overwhelmingly positive response. Many parents claimed that there were many software(coding) workshops, but not many hardware-oriented ones. As the workshop concluded, I knew that I could do more and blossom this single workshop into something far more.
PC Building Workshop March
Following the success of February's workshop, I decided to host another one in March. This time we discovered the free rooms provided by Alameda County libraries. As a result, the next workshop was to be hosted in Newark Library on March 15th and 16th. However, this venture thus far had been a solo project aided by my parents. If I were to expand it, I would need the help of like-minded individuals. As a result, I asked friends if they would be interested in attending a future workshop and potentially creating something bigger than workshops. As March 15th rolled around, I had two friends who attended the workshop with me: Pranav and Arjun. During this workshop, they shadowed my teaching methods, aided with paperwork, and observed the overall class. Once again, the workshop was a success. As a result of traditional advertising alongside library fliers, over 20 children attended the class. In retrospect, the large class alongside parents made it difficult to fully engage each and every child. In the future, either more computers and more teachers would have to be present or class sizes would have to be limited.
BuildTech Youth Begins
From the interest shown in the classes, I decided to take the next steps forward and pursue a non-profit. Creating a non-profit would allow me to continue to host classes with the support and collaboration of larger companies. This could potentially result in partnerships that would allow more machines and more opportunities to teach children; BuildTech Youth was formed. As of March, we are getting our non-profit certification status with two more workshops planned ahead. One of these will be conducted at Ohlone College, teaching the curriculum to college students.
