Elsie Maingi, a 10-year-old in Kenya, found UWM’s Girls Who Code program during the pandemic. For two semesters, she got up at 2 a.m. for every class and was the only student who completed 100 percent of every project.
“When we knew we were going to be online in the fall of 2020, it was a blessing in disguise because it allowed many people who were not living near UWM to attend classes,” said Christine Cheng, an associate professor of computer science who launched UWM’s Girls Who Code program in 2016. “But Elsie was the only one from a different country.”