The Computer Science Club at Elizabethtown College is gearing up for its annual coding challenge, and this year’s competition is already breaking records. With 20 students signed up so far, the most in the event’s short history, organizers say the growth highlights both the rising interest in computer science and the sense of community within the club.
Club President Matt Smith said the idea for the challenge began in 2023, during his sophomore year: “The former president wanted to have a challenge that we were able to showcase to employers and also have fun while doing it.”
This year’s event, however, looks different from those of the past. James Buck, who recently stepped down as president and now serves as an advisor, said the number of participants is reshaping how the competition will run. “This is the most amount of sign-ups that we have had and it’s actually changing the way we are thinking about this,” Buck said. “There will be a lot of projects, so we aren’t sure on how we want to go about this yet.”
The competition tasks students with building creative projects under time constraints, ranging from practical applications to advanced innovations. In past years, standout submissions have gone far beyond the classroom. Smith recalled one project in particular: “Yusuke, he made an AI that was able to translate Japanese characters into English, I thought that was really cool. I know he got help from Dr. Li, a professor at the school, and went on to win a national competition.”
For both leaders, the club is more than just coding. It’s about building a supportive network. Smith said he joined the club because of its atmosphere. “The family environment really stood out to me and the fact that there were people there that actually enjoyed doing this, not just for a class,” he said.
Buck credited mentorship as a defining feature of the club. “We are able to give the members that haven’t learned as much yet, a mentor who is more experienced, similar to the workplace,” Buck said. “You aren’t going to enter the workplace at the top of the food chain and you’re going to need to have mentors you can trust.”
That focus on guidance and collaboration has shaped leadership transitions as well. Buck said his own path to president was influenced by his predecessor. “I was close with the former president, his name was Ethan Lajeunesse, and he was able to teach me how to run the club,” he said.
With the challenge just around the corner, both Smith and Buck are excited to see what this year’s participants can accomplish. For them, the coding challenge is more than a competition, it’s a showcase of creativity, community and the future of computer science on campus.
