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Minilek's blog

By Minilek, history, 11 months ago, In English

Hi all,

Within the last ~12 years I started two algorithms summer camps, AddisCoder in Ethiopia and JamCoders in Jamaica, for high school students in these two countries (see addiscoder.com and jamcoders.org.jm). These are each 4 week programs, 40 hours per week, with teaching assistants showing up a week early to help prep.

If you would like to volunteer as a teaching assistant for either program, please apply (AddisCoder application link, JamCoders application link)! We cover plane tickets, meals, and housing for all volunteers, and I promise that both Ethiopia and Jamaica are nice places to visit. Previous volunteers from CodeForces include SoMuchDrama, Reyna, IanDeHaan, mukeremali.

If you decide to apply to be a volunteer teaching assistant, please do so by Dec 31st.

-Jelani

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11 months ago, # |
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I had a great experience TAing for AddisCoder. I found our TA group super tight knit where we went out to explore the city and the food every day after working. I'm still in contact with some of the friends I found there. You also get to know about another culture with great food and super nice people while also finding friends within the TAs and some of the students. I recommend this program wholeheartedly especially if you like travelling and teaching.

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11 months ago, # |
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I was a teaching assistant for JamCoders this summer (2023) and had a great time. It's a great opportunity for travelling to a new place, meeting new & interesting people, and so on.

Some highlights from last year (no particular order):

  • Meeting chronixx

  • Visiting dunn's river falls

  • Visiting ocho rios

  • Patois kahoots

  • Delicious food (patties!!)

  • Getting to know people from all over the world (of the 11 TAs, there were 8 countries represented)

  • Getting my copy of "Computational Complexity: A Modern Approach" by Arora and Barak signed by Boaz Barak

  • Of course, the students. The ~50 students were some of the brightest highschoolers I've ever met. They went from almost zero programming knowledge to coding graph and DP algorithms in 4 weeks. Since the TAs and students were both living in the same dorm area, there were lots of opportunities to interact outside of lectures & labs — lots of talking about puzzles, universities, games, and whatever else came to mind.

If you have any questions about JamCoders, please feel free to DM me here or on discord (my discord handle is sherp.). I really recommend applying.

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11 months ago, # |
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I had a great experience participating as TA at Addiscoder 2019. I enojoyed both teaching for engaged students and exploring Ethopia with a great company, highly recommend this.

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11 months ago, # |
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Are there some requirements (rating in CF, etc) to be a volunteer?

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    11 months ago, # ^ |
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    No hard requirements, but we do interviews, which include some algorithms questions (nothing too complicated -- you can see a recent syllabus here, and our interview questions aren't harder than any of our program exercises.

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10 months ago, # |
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My name is Amdebirhan, and I had the pleasure of participating in AddisCoder'23. I have a minor question regarding the volunteer opportunities at AddisCoder, and I would greatly appreciate your insights.

I have primarily utilized LeetCode for exercises. While I have a robust LeetCode rating and significant experience, I recently transitioned to Codeforces, where my rating is not as high. It's worth mentioning that I initially used C++ and, as of August, I have fully embraced Python in my coding endeavors.

My question pertains to the criteria for volunteering at AddisCoder. Specifically, I am curious to know if AddisCoder welcomes volunteers with a strong LeetCode background, or if a Codeforces background is considered necessary. MyLeetCode.

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    10 months ago, # ^ |
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    A Codeforces background is certainly not necessary. The vast majority of our volunteers do not regularly participate in Codeforces.