After 10 weeks, Boulder’s
is ready to graduate their early 2016 class with 22 full-stack developers. The curriculum is JavaScript-based, preparing the students for junior and entry-level positions. CodeCraft’s program is 50 percent fundamentals and 50 percent real world projects, meaning the graduates already have something to show for themselves in their portfolios. We caught up with 11 of the students in this class to ask them about their experience. They’ll be completing the program on March 11th, but you can meet them in person and check out their projects early at CodeCraft’s demo day on March 9th.
You can contact these graduates via their hyperlinked profiles.
Student: Ellie Slattery
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"I had recently graduated from the University of Denver with my degree in History and Psychology and was working as a leasing assistant at a local apartment complex. I enjoyed the work, but it wasn't what I had imagined doing long term. My long term plans included getting my master's degree in Education, but then the opportunity at CodeCraft presented itself, and I took a chance at trying the unknown."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"CodeCraft has opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for me, and I have been able to expand my group-thinking, critical thinking and leadership skills. I am very confident in being able to enter the workforce as a team-player and junior developer. The collaborative environment of coding is a phenomenal way to learn, and I am very excited to start diving into real world problems."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"My career goals are very generalized at this point. Although I will be certified in Full-Stack Web Development, I really have a passion for front-end design and working with people, whether they be peers or customers. I'm also a Colorado native and would really like to stay in the Boulder area. There are so many opportunities for personal and professional growth here that I can't really imagine leaving. As long as I can support myself and go to work most days with a smile, I will be a happy programmer!"
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"My father and many of my friends and other family members are hardware and software engineers, who have a very different perspective on life than a liberal arts major. I was shocked when I started at CodeCraft to find that most of my peers were more like myself, from less prestigious math and science backgrounds but with the enthusiasm to learn and turn in-class skills into real-world examples. The people I have met through this program are people I would love to work with for a very long time, and I wish we could stay together as a group, we have a spectacular way of working together!"
Fun fact:
"I’m a Colorado native and a lifelong vegetarian!"
Student: Nathan Putnam
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"I spent three years working in the logistics/warehousing industry. The first company I worked for was a startup called MiiR. When I started we had four employees, and when I left to move to Colorado it had grown to 11. What I learned from that job was that I really enjoyed the fast pace of a start up, and thrived on opportunities for creative decision making. In Colorado I worked for an e-commerce website that sold ski equipment as their warehouse manager. It was during this time that I made the decision to learn programming, because it gives me a greater opportunity to work in ways I enjoy, mainly being creative, problem solving, and working in fast paced teams."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"Aside from coding, I have learned a lot about teamwork at CodeCraft. Taking code from individuals and meshing it together can be a notoriously hard task, and it really highlights what type of a team player everyone is. I have learned how to walk a team member through code and how to have constructive conversation around disagreements in how to write code."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"After CodeCraft I am aiming for a junior web development job at a small- to medium-sized company, with goals of eventually becoming a team lead or product manager. Later in my career I know that I am going to want to start my own company. I am an entrepreneur at heart."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"What surprised me about the program is just how much you can learn in 10 weeks! I came into the program having spent about two months of learning HTML and CSS in my free time. In the same time frame, I have learned the ins and outs of JavaScript, and about a dozen different libraries, frameworks and template engines. In just ten weeks I became very comfortable building full-stack applications with a variety of different tools."
Fun fact:
"Last winter in Washington my typical weekend was spent skiing in rain. Colorado mountains have treated me a little better this season, to say the least."
Student: Sarah Huynh
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"My life before CodeCraft was full of uncertainty. I was never confident in my abilities as a coder, I have done some self teaching but felt that the world of technology and code was beyond me. After taking the chance and coming to CodeCraft I proved myself wrong showing that I do have what it takes to become a computer programmer."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"CodeCraft has taught me just how the tech industry works and how different it is than what the general population thinks. I’ve learned that we are continuously learning and everyone is just as confused as you are, they’ve just had more practice in this field. I’ve also learned how to work with others — the cons and pros of working alone and how to really communicate in order to deliver a finished product."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"My post-graduation career goals include continuous learning through media. I wish to learn more about how the media continues to grow specifically in animation and sound. I want to work with startups to grand companies as well as freelance web application work."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"CodeCraft surprised me with the amount of real world experience they delivered. Not only are the teachers great, they also become your peers as co-workers as you learn, giving you a real sense of how things will be as you go into the world of tech. I’ve also learned that you may have set break times but you will never use them until your code starts working again!"
Fun fact:
"I’m an actress as well as a programmer! I love learning to develop apps as well as being an entertainer! I believe tech is wonderful way to get people together and watch entertainment, you could say I love being behind camera and in front of! I also love playing lots of games from card games like magic to physical games like basketball!"
Student: Chad Loflin
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"I'm a creative person by nature and while I was in a creative position doing video and audio production, I felt like I was hitting a ceiling. I started to seek out new technologies and opportunities which fit my curiosities and interests and that led me to coding and CodeCraft."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"Aside from coding skills, CodeCraft helped me hone my logic and critical thinking skills. I've developed the skills to identify and resolve errors (debugging code). I also had the opportunity to work in scrum and agile environments along with pair programming. Last but certainly not least, I have a better understanding of the tech career environment and how to navigate through interviews, technical resumes and networking."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"I'm so excited to take my newly acquired coding skills and really apply them to some real web dev problems, ideally as part of a great team. I hope to work in an environment where I'm able to contribute, while strengthening and expanding my technical skill set."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"Honestly what surprised me about CodeCraft's program was how much I enjoyed it considering how intense it was. This has been one of the most challenging yet fascinating experiences I've ever committed to and I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it."
Fun fact:
"I love snowboarding, skateboarding, playing guitar and I'm a big fan of Rick & Morty."
Student: Conor Gibbons
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"In addition to serving on active duty as an infantryman in the Army for five years, I have held various positions in the construction trades both in the field and in project management. A common theme throughout my career has been physical exertion, so naturally I chose web development as my new step."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"Over the course of my time in the CodeCraft program the way I approach problem solving has become more thoughtful and deliberate especially when working though a large programming challenge. I also feel that I have added more dimensionality to my communication skills specifically in situations like pair programming and project planning on larger teams."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"Following graduation from CodeCraft I would ideally like to work with a company that will allow me to utilize what I’ve learned in the program and enable me to continue to grow and progress as a developer. I would like to find a company with a mission that I can relate to and believe in and work with a team that is passionate about delivering the products required to make that mission a success."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"I would have to say that what surprised me the most was how much fun the program was. While I have always enjoyed coding and learning to code, learning with others and working through problems and projects with them has been a great experience and one that I will not soon forget."
Fun fact:
"Thanks to my daughter’s taste in movies I now know almost all of the Disney princess theme songs by heart."
Student: Oscar Peña
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"My background is in public health with specialties in health education, health policy and community outreach. Prior to joining the bootcamp I was a health educator working at SeaMar Community Health Clinics in Mount Vernon, WA. We primarily served the Latino and migrant farmworker communities by providing low-cost to free healthcare services. I decided to pivot into tech when I realized the opportunity to enhance the patient experience and improve health outcomes with better utilization of technology."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"CodeCraft taught me how to communicate, collaborate and work together on a team. It is a difficult skill to master, but great preparation for entering the workforce. I learned how to search for answers on my own by reading documentation and realizing when it's time to ask for help. Additionally, we learned to use the right tool for the right job by understanding how to get a feel for the pros and cons that each framework/library has."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"I want to work for an organization whose mission is to have social or health impacts on the community because that's what drew me into tech. As a junior developer I want to continue learning and refining my skills. I'm looking for a place that values work-life balance and has a great system to support the advancement of junior level employees."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"I was impressed by the quality of instruction we have received. Between our two instructors, there are over 50 years of experience and knowledge for them to impart on us. They have taught us much more than just how to code. I'm very satisfied with my bootcamp experience at CodeCraft!"
Fun fact:
"I love to cook! My family's business is a Mexican restaurant called Ricardo's Place in Southern California. I owe my passion to my grandmother and aunt who taught me the basics while growing up. Recently I've been exploring Thai and Indian cuisine. I enjoy mixing it up culturally and creating my own style of fusion recipes."
Student: Priscilla Wang
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"I worked for Morris Animal Foundation as a philanthropy data analyst and running my own business PureTeaPharm.com. At the same time, I was attending Master of Science in Information System Security and Master of Public Policy programs at the University of Denver. I have two lovely fish named Suke and Beta in my life as well."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"I am a happy but quiet person with a very high level of patience. However, merging myself 40 hours/week with my classmates and instructors was hard in the first week. Now I am glad to see lots of positive changes on my co-working style and attitude. CodeCraft gives me a new perspective on how to perform team working, when to ask for help, and where to locate resources."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"I am looking forward to contributing and continue learning in a cyber security or system/network governing company. I will sit in four Cisco tests to get my CCENT/CCNA/CCDA/CCEN-Security Certifications in mid-March 2016. Good luck to myself and I can't wait to meet my future employer."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"I don't always get 'surprised' by either good or bad things. I had an idea of how CodeCraft bootcamp would be like when I got my front-end web design certificate from Boulder Didgital Art School. If there's any, I will say the invisible strong force pulling me out of bed every morning to commute over one hour one-way between Denver and Boulder."
Student: Nathan Maher
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"I worked as a lifeguard and pool manager for about seven years to get through college with a business major. Though my college experience was wonderful, it quickly became apparent that I would need a technical background to follow my dreams of being a game designer. After six months of fruitless job hunting, I went to CodeCraft to get that education."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"As I worked on my final project, a canvas-based Javascript game, I learned a lot about how to attract the player's eye to important elements of a game's level. For example, one part of the game features a character who tells the player important information as they fight him. However, playtesting showed that players usually wouldn't think to look for the text, let alone read it, even when nothing else was happening. The rest of my game is pretty heavy on action, which had trained the player not to look closely at spots where I now needed them to be looking. That was a fun problem to work through!"
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"I strive to be a professional game designer and programmer. Game design has been my passion for a very long time. Now that I have the skills to make it happen, I'm chomping at the bit for an opportunity to have someone actually pay me for it."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"The quality of our two instructors drastically exceeded my expectations. Their different teaching styles complemented each other startlingly well, giving us a full taste of what the subject matter had to offer. I can often be a grumpy guy when it comes to ragging on an instructor's style, but Dave and Erty blew me away from day one. Neither of them even paid me to say that!"
Fun fact:
"A fan of one of the mod projects I worked on once told me that I 'talk like a person, even on the internet.' I'm not entirely sure why, but it stands to this day as my number one favorite compliment. I can only continue striving to live up to that lofty expectation."
Student: Kevin Hoffman
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"After 9 years of working in IT, I felt I had stagnated and I was ready for a change. During my career I had learned a lot about servers, software, problem solving, and writing scripts to automate tasks using Perl, Python, and BASH. I had also taught myself some basic web development skills in HTML, CSS, and PHP. I started teaching myself JavaScript and suddenly I realized, 'I want to be a web developer!' But I also realized web development had become much more complicated and there were dozens of frameworks, tools, and other technologies in use. I decided to enroll at CodeCraft to take my web development skills to the next level."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"CodeCraft is focused on technical skills but they also take time for many other learning experiences. They've helped us with LinkedIn profiles, mock interviews, guest speakers, and what can only be described as 'Lord of the Flies' projects, wherein you work on a programming project with a group of others but you have no clearly defined roles. And as a result I do feel like a more well-rounded, employable programmer."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"Currently I am most interested in front-end or possibly QA positions, but at the end of the day, I just want to write code. Programming really appeals to the creative and problem-solving sides of my brain, and I love the feeling of satisfaction when I get something working or make something work better. I would prefer to stay in Colorado if possible."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"I was pleasantly surprised by the age range among the students. Ranging from 19 to 44, it's awesome to see such a diverse group of people learning and collaborating together. We all bring something unique to the table and I think that adds a lot of value to our overall experience."
Fun fact:
"On my birthday in 2003 I watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in a movie theater."
Student: Becca Conklin
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"Before CodeCraft I was working at a web design agency in Seattle as a producer. I loved working with designers and developers so I decided to deepen my skill set by doing a full stack web development bootcamp."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"Besides coding skills, I’ve learned how to work with a team of developers, which can be challenging at times. I've also gained a lot of abstract thinking skills and learned how to think like a developer."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"After CodeCraft I want to get a job as a junior front end developer. I would love to be at a company where I fit in culturally and I want to be encouraged to continuously learn and grow."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"I was surprised at how much information I learned in just 10 weeks."
Fun fact:
"I am a certified yoga instructor."
Student: Vasisht Shastry
What was your life like before CodeCraft?
"My life before CodeCraft had some positives and negatives. The positives being able to pursue a graduate degree in mechanical engineering after several years of full time employment in the engineering field. The negative being that I never go to design, analyze, and build products — what mechanical engineers actually do. I worked in acoustics/vibrations, aerospace and manufacturing but never got the chance to do 'hands on' design and build work."
What have you learned with CodeCraft?
"I learned how to work in groups of people with different backgrounds to achieve a common goal. I also learned to be more aware of my strengths and weaknesses — and know what I like and don't like to do. Part of being a developer is sometimes doing menial tasks like testing or database debugging, and I have recognized that you just gotta push through and get it done."
What are your post-graduation career goals?
"My post-graduation career goals are to find a job where I can use my skills at a company which does scientific / engineering / mathematical software development. I am beginning to teach myself data science / machine learning and would like to incorporate data science and application development."
What surprised you about CodeCraft?
"How hard it is and how much work it takes to make it from the beginner to the novice to the master level. Even after spending hours every day for 10 weeks learning web application development we've barely scratched the surface. I view this as a great opportunity for lifetime learning and also being able to give back and contribute to the open source software community."
Fun fact:
"I can tell you why a piece of chalk breaks at a 45 degree angle when you twist it."
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