We interviewed our intern, Rishi Mehta, about his experiences at Hatch. Rishi is now a skillful programmer and solving problems independently. As an intern, he is building exercises for other students to master Python. It turns out we might be building our future workforce.

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Q. When did you start with Hatch?
A: I started in grade 6.

Q: How long did you take courses?
A: For an entire school year. It's Hatch—it's fun.

Q: What was your best memory with a Hatch coach?
A: I was relatively new to coding—I was really stuck on what conditionals were. My teacher stayed after class to provide extra support—giving me reassurance that I could get anything solved and he was there to support.

Q: What was your favourite project you built with Hatch and why?
A: I have two. Torus: circles that go out and back in. And, Sunset Shadows: it looks really good. It is the best looking project in my humble opinion, and is very cool.

Q: What has Hatch offered in terms of options and choices for the future?
A: Before Hatch, I knew a little bit of Python, but after attending Hatch, I was very open and comfortable in learning other languages like Python, HTML, CSS.

Q: How did you get an internship at Hatch?
A: I contacted the founder of Hatch on LinkedIn. There happened to be an intern group starting soon—Peter said to show up at this time at this place and I was part of an intern group within 24 hours.

Q: What is it about Hatch's learning system that you think helps teach how to solve problems independently?
A: My favourite part, which helped me at the start, after classes, not only could I reach out to the teachers, but there is an explanation of the code for the base project but when you get to the challenges, you are on your own without any explanations. So you can get the support at the beginning, but when you want to push yourself, you can see what works and what doesn't work and figure it out yourself.

Q: What are you doing at Hatch in your internship?
A: I am doing a lot of things. I am helping translate JavaScript projects into Python. I am learning a lot about myself—about what I need and don't need help with. I am learning to ask fellow interns how to solve problems. I am learning more Python everyday—I have learned a ton everyday. I've helped to design the Leadership In Training program for teens who have learned with Hatch previously and now want to coach new students and become leaders.

Q: What do you think you have learned at Hatch about solving problems independently?
A: Learning Python on my own has taught me how to figure stuff out on my own. When you don't have people, how do you solve the problem—do you Google it—how do you research it?. You have to be smart with your time and time management. I have learned how to solve my coding problems through research even when there are no people there.

Hatch believes that excellence is acquired through “deliberate practice”. How a child practices their STEM / STEAM skills has a significant impact on the quality of their capabilities..

Learn more about “deliberate practice” by listening to the Freakonomics podcast—Ep 244.

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