9 Years Old Boy Becomes Pinoy Business Directory Webmaster

Hexel Colorado, a 9 years old boy, may be the youngest person who can program in six computer languages. But learning many computer languages was not his only goal. He wanted real world programming experience. This week he begins his role as programmer for PinoyDirectory.com.

Hexel did not seem to be unusually talented when he was little. Most of his early pictures showed a toddler mostly unhappy or crying. It was difficult for his parents to understand why he was frustrated with almost everything. He was always wanting something no one could guess or understand.

Things got a lot easier when Hexel learned to read, starting when he was three. He developed a fascination for books. By age six he finished reading the Bible's Old Testament and, the following year, finished reading the New Testament, too. By the time he was eight years old, he had read many books on many subjects.

The rich vocabulary he gained from reading books gave him the freedom to express himself more freely. No longer frustrated, he proved to be a very happy kid inside. He laughs easily at almost any subject, finding humor that cracks his brothers or his parents. He can make almost any seemingly serious situation sound easy.

A popular assessment test he took on reading skills, when he was eight, showed he was in the ninety seven percentile nationwide among kids his age. This prompted his parents to give him high school level books to see if he could handle them. He proved competent at that level, too, finishing a book every two or three days. In one year he read more than fifty youth-level books.

To determine if Hexel had interests beyond reading, and talking about stories he read, his father challenged him to master computer keyboarding. In three months he learned to type at 72 words-per-minute with 95% accuracy. After this his father did not provide a new goal for the next three months, just so he could do anything he likes. On his own, he chose to use the time improve his typing skills. At nine years old, he types at 80 words-per-minute.

Because Hexel keeps asking for more challenging activities, he was given a computer-based course on College Algebra. To his parents' surprise, he completed the lessons in one month. And he wanted more.

At this point his parents decided to test if he has any interest in programming. He was given lessons in basic and advanced HTML, the computer language used in designing Web pages. Within days he was inventing games for him and his brothers to play with.

It was at this point that his father, Ray Colorado, president of PinoyTexas, began to think Hexel could be the solution to PinoyTexas' biggest problem. PinoyTexas needed a programmer to upgrade the Websites and to implement new changes. The necessary changes are long overdue. Could Hexel, only nine years old, be the solution?

Being parent, Ray also wondered if Hexel would truly enjoy it or would he do it out of obligation and, in the process, miss out on a period of happy childhood? Hexel himself provided the answers to these questions. As his father began to teach him serious programming, Hexel would accomplish twice his father's goals. He was asked to complete a chapter a day, he would finish two or three chapters a day. In six months, Hexel learned five programming languages.

The level of learning Hexel has achieved is extraordinary. In some areas he now knows more than his mentor, his father, who was a professional programmer himself. This was possible because Hexel reads new books on his own. He learned languages many programmers struggle to learn in college, such as Oracle database programming and C programming.

The textbooks he used are college level books. He exceeds normal college practice by doing all exercises in each book. In learning the C language, for instance, he performed 61 coding exercises and passed 59 of them. In addition to C and Oracle, other languages he uses for programming include HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL.

The PinoyTexas staff wrote this article to introduce Hexel Colorado in his new role as PinoyDirectory.com's Webmaster. Redesigning the Websites began this first week of August. To Hexel, we say, "May God bless you as you help us."

PinoyTexas staff

8-4-2006