Choosing a Coding bootcamp during the Covid-19 Pandemic

From swinging a hammer to swinging a keyboard

August 2001, the story begins when my father fell from the roof of his work and left my mother raise me (8), my brother (2), and sister (12), and my now quadriplegic father. My mother being that tank she was, continued to work hard at her job, all us kids eventually got jobs when we got older, and everyone pitched in going as far as learning how to clean my fathers trachea and turning him every hour to avoid bedsores.

“I am grateful for all the obstacles in my life because the perseverance I learned really helped me manage well during a fast based bootcamp like Flatiron.”

After things settled back down and we got into our rhythm, we were all able to pursuit our dreams and get educated. Three college degrees and two masters later, we can say that we truly turned poison into medicine.

While helping my family I worked as a waiter getting my first job at age 13. I waited tables until I turned 19 and decided to pursuit higher education. I enrolled into a community college where I spent 2 years getting prerequisite done. It’s during this time I got a job as a Carpenter to help fund my dream. While framing luxury houses all over Chicago and Chicagoland area, I made it through another 4 years at a university and obtained a Bachelors of Science in Business Management. Through those years working 50hrs/week and going to school I was able to purchase my first home and own a rental property!

After graduating, I promptly left my job and got my first job out of college at an entry level position in a Fortune 500 company doing customer service. I was working my way up the ladder and was promoted within a year. During the covid-19 pandemic, my hours were severely cut and found that Codecademy was offering their services for free! I jumped on in hopes that I could improve skills and take my career to new heights.

I found after diving into ruby, ruby on rails, and javascript on Codecademy, that I loved it, and that tech was in every facet of business. I looked around and asked people about coding bootcamps and found Flatiron. Now 3 weeks in I am grateful for all the obstacles in my life because the perseverance I learned really helped me manage well during a fast based bootcamp like Flatiron. I hope to show people that no matter what your circumstances, you have the power to turn poison into medicine, overcome, and build a future you want.