Jean and I had the pleasure to help him organize some Python classes for other students my age. When we look at Techaide, at least for my entourage, it\u2019s the gathering place for an important community with lots of power to create change, and plus a lot of people see it as this hub of open-minded innovation and creativity. And what Techaide has is a very socially conscious position of using this innovative way of thinking, but also the wealth that comes with it to benefit the other spheres that wouldn\u2019t prosper as much as tech. This just <\/span>made sense <\/span><\/i>to help with that distribution of knowledge and resources. It\u2019s not like I have a valid reason to say no to this! I organized a hackathon before, so this Python course came just at the right time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I was always interested in graphic design, so I pitched myself and said \u201cWhat if Techaide had a rebranding?\u201d. I met Laurent Maisonnave and Alan MacIntosh and they were very interested, so we made this relationship work and I brought forth some amazing friends to be part of this. For a non-profit, it\u2019s good to have a lot of people engaging with its activities and it\u2019s simply fun. It\u2019s a great opportunity for us to meet some cool people and do some volunteering work outside of the scholastic context. That link between the tech community and the social benefits it could bring, that\u2019s an end in itself and it really <\/span>made sense<\/span><\/i> to us. It\u2019s hard to find opportunities as unique as this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In school, we\u2019re often encouraged to do volunteering activities, but they\u2019re all kind of the same thing: tutoring, food banks\u2026 But Techaide is a very flexible thing and you can contribute in ways that match your interest. You can\u2019t say that web design is stereotypically a volunteering activity, but with this relationship with Techaide, it becomes a great way to contribute.<\/span><\/p>\n From left to right: Jean Mourad, Alexis Boudrias, Philip-Olivier Jean, Ming Xi Gu<\/p><\/div>\n And how was working with Techaide compared to the work you do in a school context?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Well, in my opinion, school projects are rather restrained in the way that the audience is planted (the teacher) and there is a narrow path to do interesting work. In the outside world or some extracurriculars, you have to seek out and understand the audience yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n Extracurriculars and outside projects also allow mentor-mentee relationships. It pushes you to learn yourself while receiving practical knowledge and insights. Mentorship is incredibly helpful and rewarding. The mentor can guide and push you to learn from the inside out. That difference in the inherent dynamic is what I found the most different and enriching with the school.<\/span><\/p>\n Did you encounter any challenges while working with Techaide? And what kind of resources did you find useful throughout the process?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n We had some great first batches of ideas, and then we received some valuable feedback\u2026 But then we weren\u2019t sure what the good version with the feedback would look like. We tried different iterations to see what <\/span>actually <\/span><\/i>worked\u2026 I guess how we overcame that challenge was to stop thinking too hard about it! We started focusing on what they had in front of us. We said, \u201clet\u2019s take a step back, we don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel\u201d. That is also an exercise to reduce the friction of communication between us and get the communication barriers down, without overthinking what\u2019s a good idea and what\u2019s a bad idea. <\/span><\/p>\n When you aren\u2019t inventing radically new things, most of it or some version of it already exists. So we thought \u201clet\u2019s let loose, see what has and hasn\u2019t worked, and get something that has our own touch and works well for Techaide\u201d. We definitely learned a lot from others who have done it and done it best.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s the best lesson you took from your involvement with Techaide?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n That cooperative magic of teamwork is very real. This project was multi-faceted: there was branding, there was communication, the website, copywriting for the website, and many elements. Finding the right team and the people you work with is by far the most important aspect, perhaps more important than what the project might even be. With the right team from the start, you feel like anything can happen. <\/span><\/p>\n Even outside of Techaide, I realized that a lot of projects go downhill because the team isn\u2019t right and it just doesn\u2019t work out. And it\u2019s not only about getting the best people at what they do. Even for small projects, cultural fit is equally important because if you trust the people and have faith in the process, you remove so many insecurities about the project. <\/span><\/p>\n A lot of decisions about choosing people are intuitive through subtle, personal details from my experience. Good people push you further than you can push yourself, and help you see your blindspots. Sometimes, it comes with cultivating the right intuition! After working with Techaide, I try to apply that in every single project that I do, and so far it has worked quite well. <\/span><\/p>\n What kind of impact do you think Techaide has on the tech community in Montreal and beyond?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I think Techaide is leading by example and is creating increasing awareness that you can\u2019t only be focused on the tech, the products, the revenues\u2026 You have to invest in the local community, however, that may be, through funds or resources or knowledge sharing. <\/span><\/p>\n The tech community of the future is being shaped by these initiatives that plant seeds in people, such as Techaide did for me. From my point of view as a student, when you plant these seeds early on and invest just a little bit, even just by trusting young people to redesign a website and giving them the resources to do that, this shapes their thinking at an early stage. Not only does this help them develop an interest in, in this case, technology and the technology community, but you also foster this culture of giving back. <\/span>And that\u2019s the core of Techaide. Generosity and social consciousness are passed on from one to another. This is creating the circular exchange that comes around every generation\u2026 After all, going slightly out of your way to investing in people will almost certainly have positive returns.<\/span><\/p>\n Right now, Techaide is in the early stages of the potential it could have! And the continuation of that potential depends on the next generation of technologists (of all ages) and everyone who interacts with technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n As a student, how do you see the local tech community evolve in the next 5-10 years?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I definitely love and am very invested in technology. And we know that it is the future. Not everything will be about technology but a lot of it will depend on it, and it shapes everything we do\u2026 At least in our local tech industry, I wish there was more interaction with young people! From my experience, the tech industry is there and is very focused on what it\u2019s doing. But I don\u2019t see it as being particularly outward-looking to people that aren\u2019t directly involved with tech\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n Occasionally we get interactions on college campuses, and It\u2019s exciting for young people to be exposed to the works of great technology companies\u2026 But it happens every so often. Most of the exposure comes from the internet and other media. Because of this lack of direct exposure to high technology in schools, I find that students aren\u2019t as into technology as they should be! Some, including me, realize it slightly later than preferred. I guess we can always say we wish we could have gotten into it earlier. <\/span><\/p>\n I hope the local tech industry in Montreal, with all its exciting undertakings, would take this little step outside of their model and operations and take their generosity to pique young people\u2019s curiosity a bit more often.<\/span><\/p>\n What kind of future do you see for the Internet?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019ve had a lot of ideas about this recently\u2026 One future I imagine is to think of the Internet as a city because it is a city. It has institutions, rules, schools, commerce, and entertainment, collective behaviour, art, cultures, crime, and just about everything else you can think of. If you think about 2D representations of code as 3D buildings like the simulated worlds of video games, then the Internet is one of the biggest cities out there. It\u2019s exponentially bigger than New York, and it\u2019s a really great place to be other than raising your family. If we think of it as this 3D city, then the Internet is one where we could do so many things we couldn\u2019t do in the real world and there\u2019s a lot of fascinating possibilities with that. <\/span>Going on a walk with a family member overseas, exploring a new universe with friends, and surely some terrible things too like all powerful technologies. <\/span><\/p>\n This is among many other ways of looking at the future of connectivity. With the advent of virtual and mixed reality, better computing and computer graphics (Unreal Engine 5 is fascinating), 3D modelling, ultra-fast networks, deep learning and blockchain, working towards changing the way we perceive and interact with the web, and basically reality at that point, and exploring what really makes us human are quite interesting to learn about. And that last part is absolutely a euphemism. As you can see, I\u2019m very excited about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n What do you wish to tell other students about technology?<\/b><\/p>\n What I think is counter-productive is that many people see terms like \u201ctech\u201d or \u201ctechnology\u201d and immediately, intuitively create a separation that oversimplifies what \u201ctech\u201d really means. Technology encompasses virtually every field. To put it the other way around, every field is empowered or could be empowered, by technology, whether it is music, journalism, politics, art, or education. Coding, for example, is not a discipline like another. It is a language that allows somebody to use capabilities beyond their brain, to communicate thoughts to a machine, an extension of the brain. <\/span><\/p>\n I found that people often brush off computer-related skills because they\u2019re not into computers. By seeing computers as what they really are, which are simply extensions of the human brain, it feels silly not to take it on. And so beyond computers, \u201ctechnology\u201d and \u201cinnovation\u201d themselves are inherently inclusive, in that they are not reserved for a certain group of people.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MingXi Gu, a second year International Baccalaureate Pure and Applied Sciences student at Coll\u00e8ge Jean-de-Br\u00e9beuf, takes us through his exciting vision for the future of the Internet, and the role Techaide plays in democratizing the tech community in Montreal and beyond. 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