I was always fascinated with all things tech. This started when I took my first computer class in Kindergarten. In my house, I was the go-to person to fix any electronics that weren’t functioning properly (it’s still like this in my house to this day).
When I was deciding which major to choose in college, Computer Science was at the top of my list. However, math scared me away from it. Instead, I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Communications and pursued a career in Marketing. While being at my first job out of college as a Social Media Marketing Assistant, I got exposed to Adobe CC apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign and I fell in love (design and art are my other hobbies), so I decided to go back to my Alma Mater for an AS in Graphic Design.
At the same time, I minored in Web Design and started taking some courses after seeing an ad on Facebook for Skillcrush. After reading their many PDFs and other resources, I realized that I could still follow my passion without having to be a math expert. After taking courses on Codecademy, Udemy, Skillcrush, Treehouse and many others, I learned HTML and CSS before I started taking the classes in college.
HTML and CSS was the easy part. Once it was time to learn a programming language, like JavaScript, things got REALLY challenging, and honestly, I became discouraged. I wondered if I made the right decision to drop out of the Graphic Design program to pursue web development full time. Could I really pick up on any programming language as long as I know the fundamentals?
I knew at this point that self-study wasn’t working for me and I needed some extra help, as well as something like an accountability partner. Unfortunately, this led me to enroll in a newly opened bootcamp in my city and let’s just say I was disappointed with the results. Thankfully, I had parents who supported me and saw how badly I wanted to become a web developer.
So as crazy as this sounds, my mom encouraged me to look for another, more reputable bootcamp, while I hunted for a job in my past profession so I could pay for it. During my search, I saw that all the bootcamps in my state were too far, and just when I was going to reluctantly sign up for a school that was a great distance, I found an ad for Flatiron School, (thanks, again, Facebook) for the free Bootcamp Prep course. I was really impressed by the curriculum but I was still unsure if I wanted to commit to another bootcamp.
Coincidentally, I ended up meeting one of the instructors, and former student, Luke Ghenco who lived in the same apartment complex as I did. I was very impressed by his coding skills and I attended a Flatiron workshop at a local Whole Foods that he was hosting. After talking with Luke about my situation, I decided to go for it and apply to Flatiron.
Also, coincidentally, I got a job offer the very next day after I was accepted into Flatiron, for an entry-level part-time web developer position at a local university. I will still take advantage of being enrolled in Flatiron’s online program because even though I have an entry-level position, I will have to use some JavaScript eventually, which I’m only a bit familiar with. Whatever I learn at Flatiron, I can apply it to my job, and build upon my portfolio.
I’m really enjoying the lessons, including utilizing the terminal and running tests, as I’ll eventually have to do that at work. I can tell that a lot of time and effort was put into Flatiron’s curriculum and that makes me confident that I will become a much better developer than I am now when I complete the course.