A/N: Michael and Judith interaction anyone? I don't really like it either, but it has to be written…so hope you enjoy it! Please review, I would love to know what you think! Also so sorry this is a week late, I had a lot of stuff going on the past week and was out of internet access. But for your patience...two chapters will be going up today! So yay!
Disclaimer: I am not Meg Cabot and do not own the PD.
Really, this class is completely a waste of time. We don't do anything. Why can't they just call it Study Hall? I mean yes. Boris plays his violin. But everyone else just sits around and talks to each other. I don't remember the last time anyone did any actual work except for maybe Mia? She is always writing away, scratching furiously in that book of hers – even when she is carrying on a conversation with someone. It seems no matter what she loves – she dives right in whole-hearted. She wants to work for Greenpeace, obviously wants to be a writer one day, not that she is aware of that, and just really cares about the people she surrounds herself with.
Wait, why on earth am I doing a Mia entry over here? After this weekend it is so obvious I would never stand a chance anyways. Moving on. I need to move on. Or face the wrath of Lilly.
Alright, so today after school I think I am going to call an order of Team Hackathon. For starters, to find a better name, and then to lay out the plan of attack for everyone so we can win this competition. I do think we stand a chance – since most of the other teams will be other high school students just looking to make a quick buck. I have been talking to other kids around school, and a lot of the seniors are trying to enter so they can make something really stupid in their response and hope it impresses someone. But I have seen this before, and people who do not have express knowledge of programming languages and the way codes and data move will not be able to understand how to process raw data put in front of them. It requires a lot of problem solving skills specific to computer science – which most teenagers in high school do not possess since the field itself is just now starting to take off with the introduction of the internet a few years ago.
Anyways, if we want to win we really need to start planning out now – probably having bi-weekly meetings and run through some practice problems so we are really ahead of the game.
Crap Lilly is glaring at me. I think she saw me staring at Mia earlier. I do not want to have another talk with her about that, it is too awkward. Why do I have to be burdened with such a crazy and seemingly violent little sister? What happened to the sisters that baked cupcakes and gave their brothers hugs and told them how much they loved them? Instead, I get Lilly, who has been kicking me since she gained control of her own legs. Lovely.
Monday, October 6, after school at my house
Okay, so I just got Judith and Kenny here so we can work on our plan. Thank goodness they had time today.
Kenny: Um, Michael? Not that I want to appear super lazy or anything, but why do we need to have biweekly meetings before the hackathon? Are we not able to just go in and rock it?
(This kid. Freshmen really do not understand strategy or subtlety do they?)
Judith: Oh Kenny, we need to prepare! Anyone can just go into a hackathon and try to win, but without a set strategy and systematic attack, we won't be able to get far at all. Planned positions within the team are what will get us in the best position to win.
Kenny: But…I don't have a set position in the team…
Me: Kenny – we brought you onto this team so you can learn from the experience and help us out when we need an extra hand. You don't really have the experience yet to take on a project this massive and expect to understand everything right off the bat. That is another reason we want your hands in everything through the organization – so you can learn to classify what sorts of things are important and what is not, as well as what goes to who. You can then watch and learn from us as well as offer suggestions when you feel you understand well enough what is going on. And that is why we are having these meetings – so we can start teaching you the basics of computer science in a more complex way so you can learn the way to think about all this stuff – and actually be an asset to the team. Fair?
Kenny: Yeah I guess that makes a lot of sense. Sorry for being a weight on your shoulder through this. I didn't realize how much actually had to go into it.
Judith: It is not your fault Kenny, do not apologize! We wanted you on the team remember. We are both leaving next year – and need to start training you as potential Computer Club leadership. As long as we all make it through this hackathon together – it will show to us you know pretty much what you are doing to be President by your junior year.
Kenny: Wow, thanks Judith! That is really nice of you!
(He is now just creepily smiling at Judith…does Kenny have a crush? Hahahaha that would be great.)
Judith: Yeah sure. Michael – take it away, let's start teaching him together!
(Wait, now Judith is giving me that smile. Oh no. Please do not let this happen. Why does Judith have to be crushing on me, while Kenny is crushing on her, while I am crushing on Mia? Can't we just have indifferent team members who are only there to work? Please?)
Me: Uh..yeah. Let me save this thing I was working on – and then Kenny I need you to come over here and go through all this information on my computer and tell me 1) if you think it is important and 2) if it would be information Judith needs or information I need. Chances are starting information will go to Judith first – she will then relay converted information back to you and from her what you think is important will come to me. If you miss something we will let you know – but this is simply a way to see how much you already know about hackathon data.
Kenny: Great sounds good!
Monday, October 6, way later that night
Okay, Kenny did not do half bad. He got about ¾ of the important information to Judith – and then after she gave him the converted solutions about half of the important stuff to me. I think within two weeks of training he will actually do great! Problem is the googley eyes being thrown around the room. Kenny really wanted to impress Judith (which is why I think he got more of her important information correct) and Judith just kept whispering stuff to me while he was trying to work – like we were coconspirators in something. I like Judith, I do. But I do not want any emotions permeating this competition, I need to win. So they both just need to calm their hormones down, or do something. I thought Judith was back to being normal and cool like she used to be, but I guess she is going back into what I can only call her strange flirting mode. Why the sudden change? I really do not understand at all.
It really doesn't matter. We will have our next meeting on Wednesday and then perhaps I will meet with Kenny individually on Friday to go over important stuff about algorithms and the information that I must have to write them. Maybe I will even teach him how to go about making algorithms as well. Who knows? But Judith really won't need to be there – or even know about it probably. She will just get super upset if she wasn't invited. And none of us actually want to deal with that coming from her. When she gets pouty, it is scary.
Time for sleep. Depending on homework levels tomorrow I am going to finally publish the app. It has been done forever, but I think I was just afraid to actually let it go live. But the other musicians that plan on using it have been begging for ages through email, so the time is now.