Malak’s story
Published on 15/07/2022
How Coding Builds Problem-Solving Skills and Confidence
“Coding is very entertaining, but you can also learn many things… coding helps me with the way I think.”
Coding to solve problems inside and outside class
Malak is a 13 year old student at Makassed Omar Bin Al Khatib, one of our partner schools in the Tarik al-Jadidah neighbourhood of Beirut. She started learning to code with CodeBrave a year ago and has since built her own mini-robots, coded her own games and learned the basics of website development.
Apart from being fun, Malak says “coding helps me with the way I think… At home, when my sisters are having a problem, I come and help them to solve it, whether it’s about studying or not!”
We love how Malak has mapped her problem solving skills learned through CodeBrave to helping her sisters!
A challenging start
At 13 years old, Malak’s childhood has been anything but simple. She suffered from an eye condition when she was young and was bullied for wearing glasses.
“When I was younger, I used to get bullied because I wore chunky glasses. I didn’t think about anything else besides my work and studies.”
Eventually, she moved to another school in the suburbs of Beirut. There, she got a fresh start, began making friends and having fun. But her old school had been so academically poor that she was years behind in some subjects. She had to work hard to catch up.
Building strength and confidence
Malak’s resilience and strength came through when we spoke to her.
“As I was bullied before and my father passed away, I think I’m strong for handling all of this. I want to help others.”
Her teacher described her as a committed and intelligent student. Malak said she wants to share her strength with the world to positively impact and transform the lives of others. She wants to help other kids who are bullied too.
“Now that I have more friends in my school, when I see bullying, I try to stop it.”
How coding builds children’s problem-solving skills and confidence
A positive and empowering learning environment with supportive teachers can make a huge difference in a child’s education. What we teach at CodeBrave isn’t just about learning coding. We equip children like Malak with skills that can serve them everywhere in their life. Troubleshooting and problem solving are an integral part of coding (even for the professionals!) and so we encourage a healthy and curious approach to trial and error.