Makenna Worley

2008-2015: Early In My Life

Around age 4 or 5, after seeing some of my peers playing a game of chess, my mother sat down to teach me how to play. Within two months, I won my first game against her and to this day, she will not play me anymore.

I also joined Oakwood Elementary's Chess Club (I volunteer there are a chess instructor now) and began playing against students. I still play chess, just not as much anymore. You can find me on

I also got my first video game console around this time.

2016: Software Modding

My journey in Computer Science officially started around 2016, when I modded my New 3DS XL I had gotten for Christmas in 2015. The main goal was modifying my Pokemon save... To this day, I continue to mod my personal Nintendo consoles. No I will not mod anyone's for them, I don't want/need Nintendo's lawyers coming after me but I will point you to some guides I have used in the past.

So far, I have soft modded: 2x wii's, 1x wii U, 3x 3DS/2DS, 2x Switches. Hardware wise: only a GameBoy Advance and GameBoy Advance SP. I plan on modding a PSP 3000 and Japanese new 3DS XL soon. As well as battery replacing some older Pokemon games on GB, GBC, and GBA.

2018-2024: My First Internship (Ranlife Home Loans)

During my Senior Year of High School, I was offered an Internship at RanLife Home Loans in the IT department. There I learned:

  • PHP
  • Javascript via Bootstrap 5
  • HTML and CSS
  • MySQL
  • Linux, even setting up a Red Hat Server
  • SSH
  • SMS on Raspberry Pi 4's
  • Limited 3D modeling in Blender 3.6
  • 3D printing on AnyCubic and BambuLab printers

2022: Graduating High School and Enrolling at Westminster

In January- I was awarded the Presidential Scholarship at both Westminster College and the University of Utah.

In March- I was accepted in University of California San Diego. But decided to attend Westminster over U of U and UCSD.

In May- I graduated from Cottonwood High School with a 4.0 (one of six sutdents) and completion of 18 AP Classes in English, History and Social Sciences, Math, Sciences, and World Languages.

In August- I attended the First Scholars Bridge Program and met my cohort of First Generation college students. And started my first semester of college.

In December- At the end of the semester in Dr. Helen Hu's CMPT 201 class, I won the uno tournament!

2023: Opportunities

In March- I helped TA CMPT 201 for Dr. Helen Hu with peer, Shreeya Maskey.

In April- I was invited by Dr. Helen Hu to be a college panelist for the NCWIT 2023 Awards.

In August- With Dr. Helen Hu, as an undergraduate research assistant, I began work on the official Westminster Computer Science Discord.

I started working as a tutor for Westminster's Computer Science, Math, and Physics Tutoring Center.

2024: Research, Research, and More Research

In January- With Dr. Bianca Thompson, as an undergraduate research assistant, I worked solutions to Module 2 and question drafting for Module 4 in the book: A Quantitative Reasoning for Social Justice Active Learning Textbook. My work will be used in Fall 2024 for the Social Justice By the Numbers Course!

In March- I was laid off at RanLife Home Loans due to budget concerns and began my search for a new internship.

In April- I was invited by Dr. Helen Hu to be a college panelist for the NCWIT 2024 Awards.

In May- With Dr. Kathryn Lenth, as an undergraduate research assistant with peer Shreeya Maskey, we are working on developing circuit diagram drawing software.

Through the involvement of Ken Garff at the NCWIT 2024 awards, I applied and was offered an internship at Ken Garff Automotive in their Data and Analytics Department. I've loved every moment working there!

2025: The Unknown Journey Continues...

To be announced

2026: Graduation!

In May- I will be graduating in May of 2026!