Our qualifier group: Alex Baker, JP Brown, Joseph Lizarraga and Kim Montenegro
During the month of July we had our first SSF camp qualifier, and from there we select a few motivated millennials for our Alpha Camp. The selected students tasted what the SoftStack Factory coding bootcamp will be like.
During our Alpha Code Camp we experiment with a few teaching techniques and content to make sure we deliver the best education to our future students!
One of our selected students that helped us with this process was a 19 year old undergraduate from UC Irvine, Kimberly Montenegro. She allowed us to interview her to tell us how her experience went!
What were you doing before you started helping out on the SSF Alpha Camp?
Prior to helping with SSF I was finishing up my first year of instruction at school.
How did you find out about SoftStack Factory?
I found out about SoftStack Factory through a friend. As I told him that I had decided on changing majors to computer science he believed that this would be a useful and highly valuable experience.
We heard you are switching majors to Computer Science right? Did SSF help you with that?
I had originally gone to school declared as aerospace engineering however, after my first quarter I began looking into computer science.
SSF did help with that ultimate decision because it allowed me to become exposed to different resources and some of the issues that I would come across. It was through the numerous issues that I did come across that helped, because SSF taught me different techniques in being able to narrow down and identify what had caused issues and different ways to approach them in order to solve them.
How did you help with the creation of the SSF Curriculum for this Fall?
My involvement was to help test out different lessons and some of the course work that would be done in the fall and identify some issues that some students may come across through their journey at SSF.
Did you enjoy your experience?
Absolutely, in all honesty I wish I had more time.
Do you think this experience will help you with your degree?
There is not a doubt about it. I was able to learn different techniques and many different resources that has yet to be mentioned in any of my courses at school and it has let me get ahead because I am now fully aware of them and can incorporate them into my studies.
Would you recommend SSF for a person that wants to learn how to code?
Yes, I say this because they focus on teaching real world experiences that is crucial for a career with code and the techniques that is needed. They do not want to force you to memorize but rather understand issues and the steps needed in order to solve them.
What is your message for the young people that want to go on this direction for a career?
To those who want to pursue a career in this direction I would say to look into it and try to become exposed to it as early as possible. It is an incredible career choice and the demand for individuals in this career field are always growing. It is hard at the beginning however, so is anything else. Do not become discouraged at the beginning no matter how hard it may seem it will get easier as you get more exposure and practice.