I'm Marcus

I founded the Parkour Club at my school in September 2019.  It was quite a journey as I spent more than half a year preparing for this club, such as writing a 30-page club proposal, recruiting executives, creating marketing materials, printing club T-shirts, and lastly and the most difficult task was finding a teacher supervisor.  I position this club as a non-competitive sports club open to everyone.

 Over the course of 3 years, I've built multiple desktop computers for myself and others.  My first computer used an Intel Core i5-6600 and a GTX 1050 Ti (That was before I was an informed computer builder). I built my second rig (which I still use to this day) with a Ryzen 7 1700 and GTX 1080 Ti. I also configured my grandpa's Intel Hades Canyon NUC (which is small enough for traveling at only 1.3L) and installed the RAM and SSD.

I have always felt the need to advocate for people with Autism. Inspired by a social justice assignment in Grade 7, I decided to start an Autism Awareness Assembly at my school. I was able to convince my principal to hold this assembly in the Autism Awareness month where I made a speech to talk about my experiences with autism. 

To follow up with the Autism Awareness Assembly, I requested funding from the school's parent council to erect a buddy bench in our schoolyard. The goal of the bench is for students to go there if they’d like someone to play with during recess.

Using the cheapest mechanical winch I could find on Amazon and a massive 36-pound 12 volt battery I got at Costco, I built my first proof-of-concept grappling hook winch that could lift me a few feet off the ground.

Foregoing a mechanical winch for a more DIY solution, I constructed a second ascension mechanism that was not only lighter and faster but also much more compact, allowing for limited practical use.

In September 2019, I had the opportunity to attend Toronto's largest tech conference - Elevate! It was an epic 4-day event with famous people such as Michelle Obama and Chris Hadfield. I learned so much about networking and connected with many attendees. 

Berkeley HAAS’s Summer Business and Critical Thinking Program in Berkeley, California, offers business courses that are taught by professors at Berkeley and speakers from real-world companies.  I also got to meet with people from all over the world and create lifelong friendships.

In 2017, I was a Gold Medalist and Innovation Award Winner in the York Region Science & Technology Fair which progressed me to an all expenses paid trip to the Canada Wide Science Fair in Regina, Saskatchewan.