We sat down with one of our students, Luke D., to share more about his journey into the tech industry. We want to give you an idea of the depth and breadth of who is in our learning community. This interview is part of ongoing learner interviews with Qwasar students.
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I’m born and raised in San Francisco, CA. I was going to one of the local community colleges to learn computer science and right when I was ready to transfer, I ran out of money. I told myself I would eventually earn enough and go back. As it turns out, it's easier just to do an online software engineering school. What's interesting is a lot of the exercises I did for my previous school are here as well, so it's fun to see them again but instead of it taking two weeks to do one to two programming exercises, we get to do them in half an hour which is more realistic in the real world.
What are you passionate about?
Technology, I’m still waiting for Back to The Future type hoverboards; however, it’s still exciting to see augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars in development. As technology improves, I believe we can solve today’s problems such as microplastics in the environment or finding an alternative to fossil fuels.
Where do you want to work one day?
I'm trying to sneak into Apple's AR and VR division. I would like to make applications in their AR/VR games or AR/VR programs. I've seen some exciting things with augmented reality, like Harry Potter and Pokemon Go. I believe that technology could be extended to help people. A few companies are already building an augmented reality with medical devices to assist doctors in hospitals.
What do you want to do in the future?
Personally, I want to start a business or two someday, and I do have some ideas and the
foundations for them, but I just have to figure out some of the minor details. Also, I would like to be able to mentor other people that might be doing the same things that I ended up doing such as going from one career or field to another or just going after the things that they want to do.
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey to Qwasar?
I’ve always been interested in technology. I've taken programming classes in college, and I've been practicing by myself. Practicing by yourself and learning by yourself is one thing, but it's definitely better to have a community like Qwasar behind you, and meeting like-minded individuals who are nice and willing to teach each other and help each other grow.
When I first learned about Qwasar, I was researching online software engineering schools and they were charging way too much. Qwasar was the right fit for me and had even better people. Qwasar has the nicest people. With how the curriculum is set up, it’s built in a fun way. There are exercises during each quest and it helps that you can see your journey from the beginning to wherever you want to be next.
Tell us a little bit about any struggles you have had during your coding journey and how you have overcome them.
The Qwasar daily stand-up is helpful. The community is generous; usually, people in stand-up will offer help if you're stuck on a particular exercise. For example, you can ask, “why is that program not working?” Usually, one of the program managers, Josh or John, will connect us to someone who can help us or they will provide us with some additional information. On the first day, during orientation, Gaetan (Qwasar’s CTO) says, “keep pushing.” So now if I'm stuck, what do I do? I think, “Keep pushing!”
I also ask myself three things. The first thing would be input - what's my input? The second thing is, what's my output? The third thing is, what's the function? So whenever I get stuck, those two Gaetan quotes keep me motivated. Also, the Guardian sessions are another way to get unstuck because people are there to help you. I learn a lot during those guardian sessions.
What has been your favorite project so far?
I thought when I did my first my_spaceship in JavaScript that it was fun and challenging so I redid it. I'm having a lot of fun doing my_spaceship again, but it's interesting to try to figure out how to use the computer graphical system. In computer graphics, I learn some systems flip the coordinate system. What you think is up is not up, it’s the opposite.
Tell us about one of your biggest successes while learning to code.
At the moment, I’m just trudging along and learning as much as I can. I’m getting through each season and getting through each quest. These would be my biggest successes because every quest is not the same. I am learning so much about everything like printing or pointers. Every little quest has just been a big success for me. I think down the road when I finish my portfolio and personal projects, that'll be my biggest success because I have something to show for my work.
What is your favorite programming language, thus far, and why?
My favorite programming language would be JavaScript because it doesn't require a semicolon but C is a close second. I feel I could get more done in JavaScript, and there are so many nuances to learn in JavaScript and C.
What encouragement would you have for others starting their coding journey and career?
If you want to learn to program, don't give up. For me, the daily standup was an eye-opener because usually when I want to give up it’s these little quotes from Gaetan that keeps me going. Gaetan says, “Keep pushing.” If you want to learn code, learn to code. Don't give up on yourself. Keep pushing and keep asking questions. Surround yourself with excellent and knowledgeable people. I'm just so glad that there are the Guardian sessions because there's somebody else who has a better way of solving a coding challenge and another way of thinking that you can add to your toolbelt.
Is there anything else that you would like to share?
I think the Gaetan quote where he says, “Keep pushing” and that Qwasar has the nicest people and an incredible culture. I am kind of curious about how Qwasar can keep that kind of culture. There are rockstar programmers, but there isn’t anyone that is not willing to help. There is something amazing about our culture. It’s highly enjoyable and I hope Qwasar doesn't lose that.
We are thankful for Luke’s time in developing this interview and sharing his insights and journey. We are looking forward to sharing more student interviews in the upcoming months.
