From Minecraft Coding to Satellites: Benny Deng's Incredible Story of Perseverance

Benny Deng grew up in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Lining up at a food bank alone was a part of everyday life. Needles on the ground were a normal sight — left behind by drug users whose residue often contained fentanyl, meth, and other opioids. High rates of homelessness surrounded him. Living conditions there were normal to him.

Most kids his age were playing video games to escape. Benny was playing Minecraft to build. Not just virtual blocks but ideas. Systems. Worlds.

He didn’t know it yet, but those hours tinkering with Redstone commands and Lego contraptions were quietly wiring his brain for something far bigger... this is his “People’s Voice Article”.

Life, of course, had other plans. In 2019, Benny was injured. Two weeks at home, then the pandemic swallowed the world whole. For a kid from the Downtown Eastside. Where school and community were the scaffolding of daily life. It was a devastating one-two punch. But in the stillness of lockdown, something unexpected happened: he taught himself to code.

By thirteen, he had gone deep enough that his older siblings were coming to him for help with their programming assignments. His elementary school grades became a 90+ average in high school, anchored by two math and science awards. The pandemic, for all its destruction, had given him something most people spend a lifetime searching for: a genuine, consuming passion.

He modded Minecraft. He began building his own original video game from scratch: a project where light itself shapes interactivity, demanding that he design the mechanics, the artwork, the story, and every line of code simultaneously. Nothing outsourced. Nothing approximate.

And then he looked up from his work and noticed something about his school: almost no extracurricular STEM opportunities existed. So he did what came naturally to him at this point. He built one. He joined CanSat, a national competition where teams build, program, and launch can-sized satellites. When Benny arrived, Britannia Secondary had one team. He didn't think that was enough. They organized presentations to over 100 students, ran workshops on physics, circuit assembly, and microcontroller programming, and built four beginner teams and two advanced teams from nothing.

His team won overall. The second advanced team took the outreach award. The club they created is still running, still growing, still launching satellites. Later on, he co-founded the Britannia Math and Physics Club, a space for like-minded students to collaborate, compete, and access resources. Benny knew what it felt like to be the only person in the room who cared about science. He made sure fewer people would feel that way.

Then there's the 500+ hours. He volunteered at The Writers' Exchange, an after-school literacy program for at-risk kids in the Downtown Eastside. Kids who reminded him of himself. Over 100 hours of individualized attention, helping them read, write, and begin to believe they were capable of more. One summer, he gave 258 hours to Funseekers Summer Day Camp: supervising, protecting, planning, leading field trips, and being the kind of steady presence that matters enormously to a child and leaves no trace on a résumé.

He peer-tutored classmates after school. And somewhere in all of this, he became a half marathon runner. Benny's teachers, peers, and mentors saw exactly who he was. His academic excellence, athletic discipline, STEM leadership, and instinct for community earned him eight recognitions and seven scholarships across nearly every dimension of his school life:

Andrew & Annis Hattrick Award — $600

Dan and Elsie Brake Scholarship — $500Britannia

ADST Scholarship — $300

Britannia Physical Education Scholarship — $500

Britannia Spirit Award — $300

Homework Club Strong Future Scholarship Award — $3,500

District Authority Scholarship — $1,250

2025 Schulich Leader Scholarship — Nominee

That last one deserves a moment. The Schulich Leader Scholarship is one of Canada's most prestigious STEM awards, reserved for the country's top student innovators. The nomination alone is a statement.

Benny Deng is now studying Computer Science at Simon Fraser University, class of 2029.

The boy who grew up watching people line up at the food bank. Who taught himself to code in the quiet of a pandemic. Who launched satellites, built clubs, and gave over 500 hours back to the community that raised him.He made it.

As a second-generation Chinese Canadian from one of the country's most underserved neighbourhoods, Benny carried the weight of his circumstances — and chose to carry his community alongside them. He never asked for the hand he was dealt. He just played it better than anyone had a right to expect.

"It's been an honour to support Benny Deng and be a small part of his bright future!" — Stephanie Slen, Founder of the People's Voice Article.

March 6th, 2026

Written by Stephanie Slen