Houston scholar, Jones Mays II, wins Apple’s worldwide coding competitors

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Apple invited college students around the globe to give you a tremendous app and a youngster from Houston beat out lots of of others from dozens of nations to take dwelling the highest prize.

At first, Carnegie Vanguard Excessive College junior, Jones Mays II thought the e-mail declaring him the winner was spam.

“I referred to as my dad, and I used to be screaming on the telephone, and he did not imagine it both,” Mays mentioned, laughing.

The truth of his accomplishment actually hit him when he arrived at Apple Park in Cupertino, California and discovered CEO Tim Prepare dinner would sit down with him one-on-one.

“I could not breathe,” Mays mentioned. “I did not know that I used to be going to be presenting my app in entrance of him, the famous person of tech. In order that was wonderful. And um, I used to be simply stunned at how engaged he was with my app.”

The app Mays created known as Ivy and helps customers simply determine invasive plant species, a massively vital talent for a lot of, impressed by Mays’ days working a backyard along with his grandfather.

All of this, a dream come true after which some.

“Truthfully it actually confirmed my suspicion of me attempting to change into a software program engineer,” Mays mentioned. “It actually validated all my arduous work, and it actually form of pushed me to complete my app so it might ultimately be printed on the App Retailer by the tip of the summer season.”

To any college students, or adults, hoping to succeed as a software program engineer, Mays recommendation is to “tasks as a substitute of simply studying about how one can do tasks, you simply want to start out working as a result of finally you be taught by doing.”

This summer season, Mays may have loads of alternatives to cross alongside that recommendation as he helps educate laptop science lessons at Carnegie Vanguard.