After 20 weeks of intensive learning our full stack web development students are ready to graduate and start their careers with their new MEAN stack skills! We caught up with a couple of the 6 students in this cohort to ask them about their experience. At CodeCraft School we are privileged and excited to be part of helping our students, with such diverse backgrounds, create a better future by giving them the skills they need to build, develop, and enrich their own careers, and, consequently, their lives!
Taylor Pasquariello
Where are you from?
Denver Colorado
What were you doing before attending CodeCraft?
Recent College Grad working an administrative/ general data entry and customer support job.
What lead you to pursue web development?
I was drawn to programming because it challenged me critically and creatively it combined my love of art, drawing, photography and desire to create with critical thinking and problem solving. I quicly became addicted to it and now find myself programming for fun.
What have you learned at CodeCraft?
I really learned a lot about myself, I learned that I have the ability to really buckle down and dig deep to work hard and accomplish things that initially felt too big too conquer in 6 months! On a practical level i am proud to say that I have learned more than I was ever anticipating about Javascript and MEAN development. At this point I know that if I do not know how to do something I know how to do the research to figure it out!
What are your post-graduation goals?
I plan on really diving into the MEAN stack and strengthening those skills into a solid expertise. I am also aggressively pursuing a job where I can get solid hands on experience actually working as a programmer.
What was your favorite part of your experience at CodeCraft?
I really loved how insightful everyone at CodeCraft is. There is no shortage of people who know their stuff and they are all always happy to help in anyway they can.
What do you love most about programming/coding?
Programming is just cool! I love that I can build anything I can think of and that I am only bound by my own creativity. Some projects may be more complicated than others but there is always a solution it just takes persistence! Plus that process is half of why its so cool!
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
My parents told my my name is Taylor because I was born with a tail … I wasn’t … I hope.
Chris Cataldo
Where are you from?
Originally I’m from Boston, MA. After spending five years in Summit County, CO I now live in Arvada, CO
What were you doing before attending CodeCraft?
Freelancing as a front end web developer and visual designer. The majority of my work is done for a boutique advertising agency in Denver called Creative Dimensions that specializes in the Hotel & Travel industry.
What lead you to pursue web development?
An early age obsession with graffiti art and fascination with letter forms moved me toward studying design at a vocational high school. From there I pursued a fine art degree in college where I studied design and discovered technology as a new medium to create art & design. After completing my undergrad some friends were starting small businesses and needed a web presence. Before I knew it I started a career as a web designer.
What have you learned at CodeCraft?
I learned the fundamentals of Javascript and some Javascript libraries like Jquery and Angular. I also learned the MEAN stack. Mostly though I learned how to logically use code to solve problems and think like a programmer. I’ve learned that the more I learn, the more there is to learn.
What are your post-graduation goals?
I want to continue to push myself to learn new technologies and gain a deeper understanding of development and design. I’ve seen web design move from the web 2.0 era into the CMS cookie cutter template era. I feel front end design & development is overdue for a revolution of sorts where we move into more innovative futuristic projects. I intend to be on the front lines of this movement. For the short term I will continue freelancing, but always be on the lookout for the right opportunity.
What was your favorite part of your experience at CodeCraft?
My favorite part was finally having an opportunity to understand what the code I was writing was doing and gaining the expertise to boss the code around when needed. My best experiences were our group projects. We all had different strengths and it was a great experience collaborating with my classmates.
What do you love most about programming/coding?
For me writing code makes me feel really dumb at times and really brilliant at times. I love the roller coaster ride! The agony and the ecstasy. I’ve literally fallen out of my chair at times in joy when I’ve gotten stuff to work. My favorite thing about having programming knowledge is that I am no longer limited by technology. Any project ideas are possible.
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I worked as a commercial fisherman on the North Shore of Boston for 6 years.