Vernon Hills High senior set to release her first app

Submitted by Community High School District 128

Vernon Hills High School senior Justina Chua is looking forward to the release of an app she helped develop as part of her Advanced Topics in Computer Science class at VHHS.

Chua describes the app, named reflect, as a website blocker for the productive.

Chua and her team developed the idea for reflect when realizing that existing website blockers didn't help them spend less time on social media and other distracting websites.

"We wanted to take a different approach: being more mindful by supporting users in accessing websites when they need to, not blocking them off entirely," she said. "Our mission is to help people work distraction-free with more intention and purpose.

The target audience for the app is anyone who is seeking to improve their relationship with technology and reflect more on their digital well-being.

"Especially with COVID-19, many of us study and work from home, with distractions more accessible than ever," Chua said. "Using reflect is a way to help you reclaim your productivity."

Chua and her teammates, who are from Vancouver, British Columbia, began working on the app in November. She noted that college applications, schoolwork and other commitments allowed them to work only during their spare time.

One positive of the current quarantine is that it gave the team more time to work on it together.

Chua will be attending Carnegie Mellon in the fall and majoring in Information Systems.

To learn more about reflect, visit getreflect.app.