July 7, 2020
Everyone starts somewhere. Many developers out there didn’t grow up wanting to code. It’s something they fell into over time, much like two Codeup alumni, Bridget Mills and Eddy Bautista. These two software developers graduated from our Web Development class in December 2019. They came back for a virtual panel event to share their journey into web development and to give advice to people wanting to become a software developer.
Eddy had been a sales assistant for years and was a student at San Antonio College studying Kinesiology.Bridget worked at a courthouse, but those career plans were altered after becoming a military spouse and moving. She went back to school for a degree in Information Technology (IT), specializing in System Engineering, and became an IT Specialist.
When someone he knew mentioned coding, Eddy learned all he could and coded for three days using online courses and tutorials. He immediately knew this was what he wanted to do as a career. While Bridget was working at the lawyer’s office, a development team came in to help with court systems. She asked them questions and became fascinated by what they were doing. After deciding not to pursue law, she decided to go back to school for IT. Her job as an IT Specialist isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but her degree didn’t offer the coding experience necessary to become a developer, which was her true end goal. Even after moving to Hawaii and having two kids, that dream persisted. Her cousin, a developer, mentioned that some of her coworkers went to a coding bootcamp. With another kid and another move on the horizon, she decided she would enroll in a coding bootcamp when her family settled down in Texas.
While researching how to become a developer, Eddy found Codeup. Our culture stood out to him, the admissions team was helpful, he liked that we offer help with the job search through resume assistance and interview training, and he really liked how plugged in we are to the San Antonio technology scene. He felt all the pieces coming together and could picture himself here.For Bridget, it boiled down to the curriculum and hands-on experience. When she was in college, she learned a lot of theory, but didn’t get experience actually coding, which, as she learned the hard way, is what employers are really looking for. She looked into some options for coding bootcamps and Codeup stood out to her. It was big plus that even as a military spouse, she was able to use VA benefits. She loved our assistance with job placement, and noted that she had gone to school twice and neither college offered anything like that.
Currently, both panelists are working as developers for VIA Metropolitan Transit. Due to COVID-19, they’re both working from home.Eddy usually starts his day early with a coding challenge on a website like Codewars. He has a virtual meeting with his mentor to discuss some code. For most of the day, they solve a problem or do some pair programming. They also have team meetings and daily standups.Bridget is currently leading an Artificial Intelligence project with VIA that takes up most of her time. She usually has virtual meetings with members of her team, other teams at VIA, and contractors. She does documentation and uses programs to update the current status of her projects for the team to see.
Coding is a hobby for Bridget. She takes her laptop with her from room to room, sometimes coding with her child in her lap. She loves it so much, she often works late unintentionally until her kids come in the room to check on her. Because of this, she doesn’t feel completely balanced but knows that it’s only because she loves it so much.Eddy feels similarly, stating that when they do work late, it’s usually because they want to. The work-life balance has been good for him.
Bridget was nervous coming into Codeup, but it gave her everything she was looking for. Part of why she wanted to begin her journey into web development was because she thought developers get to sit around alone, not having to interact with anybody. She very quickly realized this was not the case. “You have to speak up and you have to do it well, and often, with a lot of people. You’ll have to work hard, beyond the regular hours. Take advantage of all the resources. Schedule some meetups with peers to work together outside of class. It’s so worth it in the end. Just go for it!”Eddy learned that keeping a part-time job is possible but really, really hard. He was one of the only students ever to finish Codeup while working a job, rushing to work right after class. He regrets doing that because he missed out on socializing and working together after hours. But when he had time, he always tried to work with other students to solve problems together, and encourages the same in others. “Break out of your comfort zone and don’t be scared to just start from where you are. The first couple weeks will be really hard, but learn to fall in love with the feeling of being stuck, because eventually you’ll be able to solve it.”Bridget and Eddy are working together at VIA, but took very different pathways to get to where they are. Eddy hadn’t thought much about coding before deciding to dive right into it, whereas Bridget wanted a career as a developer for years. Whether coding is something you never gave much thought to or you’ve tried a different route before, you, too, can make a transition into web development with Codeup! If you’re interested in starting a career that you love in an ever-growing industry, apply today!
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