Zhoie Calado, 2024 Texas cohort
It began with a plant problem and a prototype. When nine-year-old Zhoie Calado noticed that her mother Marie’s seedlings kept spilling over, she designed an ingenious 3D-printed plant holder to keep them upright. Soon, requests rolled in from Marie’s online plant community and a homegrown business was born – all powered by Zhoie’s imagination and coding skills (with help from a 3D printer provided by National Math Stars).
Zhoie’s journey from creative tinkerer to budding entrepreneur is deeply tied to her family’s shared spirit of ambition. Zhoie moved to the U.S. at age four when her father, Errol, accepted an IT job. Early on, her parents sought out programs to support Zhoie’s curiosity, enrolling her in Kumon math classes and eventually discovering National Math Stars – a program Errol describes as “the community we didn’t know we were looking for.”
Zhoie’s talent for math became clear around age six, when she began solving problems three grade levels ahead of her peers. But her interests extend far beyond numbers. She’s currently teaching herself Python and has built a 100-level platformer game where players collect gold blocks across randomly generated levels. She has also applied her knowledge of algorithms to solve Mastermind, the logic-based code-breaking game.
Her technical interests recently led her to complete a Brilliant.org course in Python, which also introduced her to the core concepts of artificial intelligence and large language models. At home, Errol supports her learning with books, tools, and even a local server he set up so Zhoie could run her Python projects independently. “We just gave her the book,” he says. “She figured out the rest.”
What makes Zhoie stand out isn’t just her aptitude – it’s her creativity. She’s a self-taught pianist who plays by ear, often choosing music from movies or favorite pop songs. Her current playlist includes pieces from The Wild Robot and Bryan Adams. She recently picked up the violin and also sings in her school choir. This spring, she won first place at her district’s Music Memory competition.
Her artistic side extends to painting and drawing, where she prefers acrylics for their layering potential. Inspired by anime and manga, her work often blends floral still lifes with expressive characters – mirroring the mix of discipline and imagination she brings to all her pursuits.
Through National Math Stars, Zhoie has found more than just enrichment opportunities – she’s found belonging. At her first Welcome Weekend, she met peers who shared her passion and pace, including fellow NMS student Emiliana. The two now participate in weekly mentoring sessions together and have formed a friendship that extends beyond the program.
For her family, the program has been transformative. “We didn’t know communities like this existed,” says Errol. “Now we have people we can talk to, families who get it. And Zhoie has opportunities we never imagined.”
As for what’s next, Zhoie says she might want to become a biologist – perhaps even discover a new species. But one thing’s for sure: whether she’s designing, coding, painting, or singing, Zhoie Calado is creating a future all her own.
