Jude Salley, ATL1

Meet Jude Salley, Hidden Genius Alum from our inaugural Atlanta cohort (ATL1), and current high school senior. Jude’s passion and dedication to giving back to his community shines bright as he stays involved in school clubs and serves as an SAT tutor for his peers. Throughout his journey in our Intensive Immersion Program, Jude not only built a strong foundation in coding, but also developed a supportive network that continues to fuel his growth. Ever-inspired to help others, Jude launched his own tutoring business, Straight-A Tutoring, and recently accepted an offer to become a Youth Educator with The Hidden Genius Project.

How have you been?
I have been doing well, albeit very busy! As a high school senior, I am in the midst of college application season and all the research, essay-writing, and recommendation-requesting that comes with that. I am also invested in several school clubs (Black Student Union, Robotics, and National Honor Society to name a few) in addition to serving as a Schoolhouse SAT tutor and most recently becoming a Youth Educator for The Hidden Genius Project. Family life has been solid, too. My parents and younger brother are feeling a little wistfulness at the thought of me leaving home, but they have been here to support me every step of the way in my transition from being at home to going into the world on my own. School has been going very well for me, as I am enjoying all of my classes and have maintained straight A’s. My recent offer from The Hidden Genius Project to become a Youth Educator — which I am ever grateful for — is going to be my first job, and I am ecstatic to get started and give back to my community!

How did you first learn about The Hidden Genius Project?
I was actually involved in a program that is very similar to The Hidden Genius Project during my sophomore year of high school. It was called the Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) Academy and was a residential program that provided free computer science education to students of color in underserved communities. I spent three weeks in the summer on the campus of Morehouse College and continued my involvement in the program during the subsequent school year, and I really enjoyed not only the quality of education we were receiving but also the program’s emphasis on community and a social bond with peers who looked like me. Unfortunately, funding issues resulted in SMASH significantly cutting back on its services, so I left the program and sought another one that was similar in nature to SMASH. A couple of months of online research brought me to The Hidden Genius Project, which mirrored SMASH in its promise of free education in computer science as well as a sense of brotherhood and bonding. I decided to give it a shot, and needless to say I have not been disappointed.

What was your experience in the program like?My experience in this program was, in a word, special. I enjoyed every minute and every aspect of the program. The technology portion gave me a strong foundation in computer science that will serve me well as I embark on my journey towards a career in IT. I went from knowing barely anything about coding at all to having familiarity with HTML/CSS and Python. Most importantly, though, the things we did in technology helped me discover that coding is something that I truly enjoy doing—something I want to have a career in. The entrepreneurship portion taught me the importance of using my knowledge to help those who need it, and I discovered a secondary passion because of this: tutoring. I am now dedicated to establishing a tutoring program for students in low-income communities. We also had the privilege of going on several business trips to major tech companies (my personal favorite trip was Google) where I was able to network with and gain insight from professionals who look like me and want me to succeed. Finally, I greatly appreciated the Youth Educators, Site Director, and Support Services team whose constant optimism, genuine interest in our well-being, and dedication to their jobs made me always look forward to going to the program.

Tell me about some of the challenges you’ve faced while in The Hidden Genius Project.
How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge I faced in The Hidden Genius Project was having to make room for it in my already busy schedule of school, clubs, and homework. The Hidden Genius Project required a lot of commitment, namely a sacrifice of seven weeks of my summer and weekly sessions during the school year. It was a struggle at first, having to miss some club meetings to go straight to programming after school and push back the time I set aside to work on homework in the evenings, but the educators at The Hidden Genius Project gave a very insightful time management lesson one day in which they taught us to list out all our activities, estimate the total amount of time we have to do them, and allocate certain blocks of time for each activity. This was very helpful in setting boundaries for all my different activities, which helped to effectively balance them and stay on top of everything.

Describe the final project you created during your time in the Immersion Program.
My final project was a website – for my aforementioned startup business, Straight-A Tutoring – and a pitch deck. The pitch deck is meant to be presented to investors and delineates all the details about my business that a potential investor would want to know, from the problem it aims to solve to the mission statement to cost analysis to business structure. The website is built from scratch with HTML/CSS code and is complete with a home page, an about page that highlights my purpose and goal, an action page for prospective customers who want to start using our services, a contact page, a login page, and a job application page for prospective employees.

How is The Hidden Genius Project different from other mentorship or training experiences that you have been involved in?
The level of commitment Geniuses must have is unmatched by any other program I’ve been in. The first computer science-related mentorship program I was in, SMASH, took only 3 weeks out of the summer and while it did stretch into the school year, meetings then were only once a month. That is nothing compared to the 7-week summers, and weekly meetings that The Hidden Genius Project had. Additionally, the level of involvement and investment in Geniuses that the Youth Educators and Support Service staff have is second to none. Never have I been in a program where office hours are provided 4 days a week for you to come in and receive help on anything. Never have I been in a program where the staff have quarterly meetings with you and your parents to check in on how you are doing personally and see how they can help you. The intensiveness of The Hidden Genius Project is what really makes it unique and sets it apart from any other program.

What specific skills learned in The Hidden Genius Project have been most beneficial for you?

I used to avoid asking questions when I didn’t understand something out of fear of looking “dumb.” However, The Hidden Genius Project created an environment where asking questions was encouraged and normalized, and the more I did it, the more comfortable I felt. Now, in any situation in my life, I’m no longer afraid to ask a question if I have one. This has helped me gain new information and clarity in various situations that I would not have had otherwise.

On a similar note, I have historically struggled to work with others, often choosing to work alone rather than in groups. However, the professional world is all about working in groups, and The Hidden Genius Project stressed the importance of being able to do so. When giving us a task, whether it be a quick instruction or a complex project, the YEs made us complete it in groups the majority of times, often assigning us themselves instead of letting us choose. This forced me to accommodate different opinions and ideas. I didn’t like it at first, but over time I got used to it and even enjoyed working with others.

Lastly, there is coding. Prior to The Hidden Genius Project, I had almost no coding experience outside basic block coding. However, The Hidden Genius Project’s beginner-friendly teaching style allowed me to quickly learn the more complex HTML/CSS and Python languages. I now have a jump start on my journey towards a career in programming (which requires knowledge of the aforementioned languages and more) and am currently ahead of the curve in my AP Computer Science class (APCSA teaches Java, which is a stylistically similar language to Python)

What was the most important thing you gained on a personal level from participating in The Hidden Genius Project?
The most important thing I gained from The Hidden Genius Project on a personal level was a thriving, accepting community that I can always lean on and come back to. The saying “once a Genius, always a Genius” holds unwaveringly true, because they always have my back, whether I want to chat it up with one of the many friends I made in the program or secure an internship or get employment. The Hidden Genius Project is a family in every sense of the word.

How do you think your path might have been different if you hadn’t participated in The Hidden Genius Project?

Before I joined The Hidden Genius Project, I was like a kid lost at sea. I had just exited the SMASH program, and I was kind of interested in computer science but I didn’t know for sure what I really wanted to do in life. In addition, I harbored many weaknesses: I struggled to manage my time, I hated working in groups, and I rarely asked questions when I needed to. Had I not found out about The Hidden Genius Project, I might have continued on in my high school career without a goal to work towards and without a sense of purpose in my life, and my weaknesses would have remained. I likely would have gone to college unsure what my major would be and find myself bouncing around trying a bunch of different things before eventually settling on computer science. However, I would not have the skills nor the network I have now; I would be on my own in trying to land a job in that field, with my weaknesses likely coming to haunt me in various scenarios (i.e. I might have conflicts when trying to do group work, I might not be able to accomplish any goals I set because I can’t find the time to do them, etc.). 

The old me, as I mentioned before, was lost. He didn’t have a clear purpose or sense of direction in life. He had several glaring flaws. He didn’t have a network of professionals and mentors there to help him make the right choices and to guide him to success. The current version of myself has all these things, and as a result, I have complete confidence and security in regard to my future and adult life.

In what ways have you remained involved with The Hidden Genius Project since completing the 15-month Intensive Immersion program?
I have continued to stay in touch with several Geniuses that I befriended during the program. I also applied to become a Youth Educator in an effort to 1) get a job and 2) be a role model for other young Geniuses to lean on and look up to, the way I did with the YEs in my cohort. Fortunately, after filling out the application, I was given an offer to become a YE, and I just completed my first event: Brothers Code 2024.

If you could talk to yourself just before you applied, what is one thing you would say?
“Apply for this program, bro. It will open up so many doors for you and put you in positions you’d never think you’d be in. Through this program, you will find your true calling in life and a community that supports you in your path to that calling.”

What words of encouragement do you have for future Geniuses?​​
Applying is only the first step. Once you are in the program, you have to be fully committed and willing to allot the time that the program demands. Also, make sure you are paying attention during lessons and giving your best effort in everything you do; that is the only way you’ll get the maximum benefit out of this program. Finally, when meeting with tech professionals on business trips, don’t be afraid to ask them questions you have and GET THEIR CONTACTS.