When Computer Bug Bites, Teen’s Eager To Enter The Fray
By Zook, Stephen
Paul Booth got bored one day in his sixth-grade math class and started looking at the programs written in his scientific calculator. He hasn’t turned back since.
The 16-year-old senior at Elizabethtown Area High School found a way to create a hobby out of his boredom. He has taken almost all the computer science classes offered at Elizabethtown and writes his own computer games and programs in his spare time.
One of his projects was writing a program that re-created the popular game Guitar Hero, with the notes moving down the computer screen and using a keyboard as a controller.
Despite having a knowledge of computers beyond most people’s grasp, Booth has no difficulty bringing that knowledge down to earth. Using the description of a chair as an analogy, Booth makes the differences among various computer language structures seem a little more accessible.
Booth, an Elizabethtown resident and the son of John and Shirley Booth, hopes to take his skills to college and, someday, to a career in computers.
His college and career plans aren’t defined yet, but that first step – finding a college – shouldn’t be too difficult. The teenager owns the highest grade-point average in his class.
Beyond computers, Booth is a trivia whiz. In June he traveled to Chicago with Elizabethtown’s quiz bowl team for a national quiz bowl competition.
His team won three of its six preliminary matches, just missing the cutoff to continue in the competition.
Booth wasn’t too upset about the outcome, though.
It was a lot of fun, and I got to do some sightseeing, Booth said. It’s a good way to learn some interesting tidbits.
His calendar isn’t completely filled with extracurriculars and hobbies, however. Far from it.
Booth has taken seven Advanced Placement classes at his high school. Two were in his sophomore year, and five were this past year.
Among them were calculus II, computer science, English and physics. When he was in sixth grade, he took algebra I honors.
In ninth grade, Booth and a group of four other students launched a program at the school called Word Up. A word of the week would be displayed on the morning announcements, along with four choices for its definition. Then, after a sentence using the word and a skit enacting it, the correct answer was revealed.
The program lasted only a year, but it propelled him into the world of quick thinking and contests.
His hard work has been paying off.
I’m going to the Governor’s School for Information, Society and Technology this summer, he said, shortly before leaving for the five- week school on the campus of Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Booth is studying computer science at the Governor’s School, in addition to aiding area high school faculty members in learning how to use computers and software.
But actually, he’s studying a variety of topics.
They’re putting more emphasis on society. I think they will offer an ethics course, Booth said of the Governor’s School. On a lighter note, he added, They have a knitting class this year.
Despite his demanding schedule, Booth still finds time for himself. He is an avid reader of books, mostly science-fiction. He also runs occasionally.
It’s a great way to relax, Booth said.
With his schedule, it isn’t hard to see why he might need some down time every once in a while.
E-mail: szook@lnpnews.com
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