Club Spotlight: HuSCII Coding

Here at UW Tacoma, we recognize the power of diversity and education through academia. But learning isn’t limited to the classroom — and nei­ther is fun. HuSCII Coding is an on-campus club that serves to provide all types of students with exciting op­portunities to learn and connect with others outside of the classroom. This club is open to anyone interested in coding, but is especially recommend­ed for computer science and com­puter engineering majors.

Every Friday at 12:45 p.m. in JOY 117, students passionate about coding come together to hear about up and coming technology, play computer games, and take part in coding demon­strations and workshops. Meetings are completely independent and don’t build off of prior sessions, so there’s always something new to learn and there’s no stress over missing meetings — it’s very flexible and always current.

HuSCII Coding also does more than just learn for their own benefit. One of the highlights of this club is that they frequently take trips to Expedia in Bel­levue to teach high school students how to code. Through four different classes, club members teach teens basic coding through the making and playing of games. This also gives members valuable teaching experience and volunteer hours that they can log towards UWT’s Hus­ky Volunteer program.

“Everyone should know coding to some degree,” club officer Mike Fulton said. “It’s increasingly relevant in today’s society. You don’t have to be an expert for it to be useful.”

To put it simply, coding is designing a program for a specific task. To code, you write scripts that become software and applications that increase produc­tivity and potential of programs. For instance, consider the texting app on your phone — you probably use it every day. Texting makes it so that you can talk with anyone you want instantly, no matter how far away they are. That tex­ting app only exists because a coding script was written for it.

“It’s not as hard as people think it is,” Fulton said. “The results are immediate, and there are a huge amount of resourc­es like online tutorials available.”

HuSCII Coding takes every mea­sure to provide learning opportunities for coders. They often attend local hackathons, conferences and even col­laborate with similar clubs on campus. Club members can even go through mock interviews to gain confidence and prepare for their careers. UWT faculty and alumni often meet with the members and talk about their real-life work experiences and tips for success in the field.

They also emphasize fun and ex­periencing new technologies, as the club is known to bring in virtual re­ality equipment.

“The club’s overall goal is to make coding less intimidating, and teach stu­dents everything they need to know that isn’t taught in a classroom,” club presi­dent Brooke Stevenson said.