FROM TRACK TO TECH: IBM data analyst ShuDon Brown finds parallels between coding and running

For IBM data analyst ShuDon Brown, coding is a lot like running.

“Coding and running are really similar to me in a way,” says Brown, a coder who hails from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

“When you run, you have to make sure you have a certain form that’s going to give you the ample amount of speed you can get," Brown continues. "When you look at coding, you have to have the syntax just right or else it’s not going to run, it’s not going to work."

Brown was just 19 years old when she earned a Bachelor’s degree and started working for IBM, a company for which she started interning while still in high school. She also ran track in high school. She credits the company with enabling her to express herself in her own unique way.

“I’ve been able to remain myself because I’m not forced to be older than I am,” Brown says in an IBM feature video.

In the video, Brown is spotted sporting a pair of Nike Air Force 1 High, “Just Do It” sneakers in the Total Orange colorway.

“I probably always have candy on me, or I'm wearing really bright colors," Brown says, explaining how welcome IBM has made her feel in the workplace.

"I don’t have to be anything different than who I am," she says. "I can uniquely be ShuDon.”

An early start

Brown got a head start on her coding career after being introduced to code through the Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Brooklyn.

Through a dual enrollment partnership with City University of New York, the P-TECH program enabled Brown to graduate from high school in four years with her high school diploma as well as an associate degree in computer information systems, which she did at the age of 16. This opened numerous opportunities to kick-start her career in coding.

The P-TECH program -- which has been replicated throughout the United States and in 28 countries round the world -- has been credited with boosting students' internship experience and college completion rates.

More specifically, a 2023 report by MDRC found that P-TECH 9-14 students were:

• 38 percentage points more likely to have worked an internship during their high school years than students in a comparison group.

• Five percentage points more likely to have completed an associate degree seven years after entering high school.

• More than twice as likely to have dual enrolled during high school -- 46% vs. 20%.

Brown earned a master's degree in information technology in 2019 from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she also earned a PhD in leadership studies in 2024.

Jon Dennis is the Fall 2024 and inaugural intern at Sneaker Theory. He is a senior at the University of Maryland, majoring in journalism with a concentration in African American studies. He can be reached at Joncdennis7@gmail.com.