How an English Language Teacher transitioned to a career in tech thanks to SheCodes Plus React!
🙍♀️ Before SheCodes
Melina is from Argentina and is presently living in Auckland, New Zealand. She’s a woman of many talents and interests. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, being in close contact with nature, running, practicing yoga, hiking, reading in English and Spanish, baking, watching movies and series, and studying. She’s very enthusiastic, curious, and highly motivated to learn new skills! 💪
“My background includes administration, project management, teaching, and customer service. I like to constantly be learning about new topics and up-skilling myself...skills that allow me to be proactive, good at problem-solving, and to work collaboratively across teams.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Melina decided to learn how to code to continue to improve her skill set, especially in a professional environment. She first became interested in coding when she was an English Language Teacher. In her classroom, she loved weaving technology into her lessons and wanted to keep on learning and improving her skills in the realm of tech. She decided that front-end development would be the perfect entry into the world of coding! 😄
“I never had any exposure to tech, I had my first computer when I was 18 during my second year at University. I studied to be an English Language Teacher, and I loved using tech in the classroom. My lessons usually required learners to have their phones, tablets, or computers with them when practising their language skills. I realised I enjoyed creating material for them and they felt really motivated to keep on learning.”
“I decided to start learning a bit of HTML and CSS. I absolutely loved learning. I wanted to know more and I found SheCodes while trying to find an online course on Front End development, I did the free class and then signed in to start my journey learning how to code with an amazing group of people from all over the world.”
👩💻 Her SheCodes Experience
After finding SheCodes online and falling in love with the community, Melina jumped right into coding! She says she was motivated to join SheCodes due to the flexibility of the schedule, ability to complete the lessons on her own time, affordability, and course content! 🙌
“Seeing all the women connecting, asking questions and helping each other, it was so great! I also like that the lessons were already recorded, so I could study at my own pace and go back to them when I needed. The deadlines were fair, and the material and content of the lessons were accurate and up to date. The cost of the courses was accessible from what I was earning as a teacher.”
Melina’s favorite parts of SheCodes were completing the projects and seeing the extensive progress she was able to make with her coding skills throughout her SheCodes journey! 👩💻
“I loved completing my first project and comparing this simple project with the last one, the React application. This is what I found really amazing, how much I could absorb from the courses and the skills I was able to develop in less than a year of studying. I enjoyed the feeling of being challenged, the excitement of seeing things working little by little, the process of learning how to make changes on my code, fix bugs, and Google errors.”
“It is great to finish a course like SheCodes and have a final project to expand my portfolio, especially since I don't have any experience in the industry.”
Thanks to SheCodes, Melina had the realization that anyone can code, no matter what your background is. She became passionate about coding and we couldn’t be more thrilled! 💜 👩💻 She also thoroughly enjoyed sharing this passion with other women in the SheCodes community!
“SheCodes for me is an amazing online resource that helped me realise that anyone can code, no matter what background you have. I discovered a new passion, new ways of learning content and practising it straight away.”
“Learning along with other women was one of the best experiences. I felt really proud seeing the amount of passionate women taking baby steps in the tech industry. I am thankful to SheCodes for making the difference, for supporting minorities and having this awesome idea of creating thess workshops to help women up-skill. ❤️ ”
Her overall view of SheCodes is very positive! Melina loved the content, teaching methods, homework, ability to ask for help along the way, and free coding tools!
“Love the content, the way the curriculum is planned and the way the lessons are delivered. Homework is a big part of SheCodes workshops, some piece of homework can be very challenging but enjoyable at the same time, it will push you to ask for help in the Slack group and make connections with others. Something really new that I love from SheCodes is the free coding tools, you must check them out. 😻 😻 😻”
🙋 How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
SheCodes helped Melina debunk her previous notions about coding and begin her coding journey on the right foot. 🖥 👣 Thanks to the coding knowledge she's gained, Melina is now working in tech as a Software Engineer Intern!!
“SheCodes allowed me to demystify the idea that programming is just for people who are really good at math. It supported me on my journey of learning new concepts, processing information, and practising straight away. I had the magnificent opportunity of coding along other women, helping each other to get unblocked, fix bugs, celebrate our small wins, and keep going. After SheCodes, I decided I wanted to keep on learning.”
Shortly after SheCodes, Melina continued learning in a coding bootcamp and was able to implement all of her SheCodes knowledge and delve even deeper into coding. 💪 💻 After a lot of hard work and dedication, fueled by passion, Melina has gotten an internship at a tech company in Auckland, New Zealand. 🤩
“After attending a couple of interviews, I got an internship in software engineering. I decided to take this internship to give myself the opportunity to grow at my own pace. Get used to this new chapter in my life, learn more about the industry and have a taste of what working in a real company is. I am enjoying the internship a lot, I have been able to learn so many new things.”
Melina says that SheCodes provided her with the proper support, tools, and confidence to form a solid coding foundation and give her the opportunity to transition to tech. 🙌
“SheCodes supported me a lot during the beginning of my journey as a developer, it gave me the tools I needed to grow, not only technically but also in boosting my confidence. I think realising that I was actually good at coding was a mind changing moment. Now, I have the super power of building whatever I want for fun, curiosity, or because I have to.”
Melina is currently working as a Software Engineer Intern at Spidertracks. She completes a lot of project-based work. Her daily tasks include stand-ups, managing groom tickets, reviewing/fixing pull requests, working together with other members in her team, and doing a lot of coding of course! 🌟 She says she’s having fun learning and her position now gives her many more benefits than her previous role!!
“I used to be an English Language Teacher, and I loved it but I needed another challenge. When I decided to change my career path, I realised all the benefits that came with it, I found out I can have a life-work balance, flexible working hours, I get to work remotely, and I get to work alongside a team of amazing human beings. I enjoy it a lot, and it is very interesting how much knowledge I gain each day.”
We couldn’t be happier for Melina’s successful transition in her career trajectory! 😍 She wants to continue developing her coding knowledge, and also hopes to see more women in the industry! We feel very confident that she’ll accomplish all of her development goals in the future, and we definitely hope to see more women in the field in the near future, as well! ❤️
👩💼 Advice to Future SheCodes Student
Melina thinks that SheCodes is a perfect starting point for coding beginners to see if coding is the right fit for them! Whereas there will be challenges, she says that’s all part of the process and you’ll be able to get help and ask questions along the way. And her last piece of advice is to enjoy the course materials and resources provided - because SheCodes will help you get to where you want to be! We can’t wait to welcome more students like Melina to learn how to code with us! 🤩
“SheCodes is a great opportunity for women who are looking for a new skill or a new challenge but are not sure if coding is the right move. Women will find a supportive, friendly, and dedicated group of others from different countries who are in different phases of their life but are ready to help you out, listen to you, and get you back.”
“You will be mentally challenged. This is for sure, and it happened to each of us in different ways. If you feel down some days, that is okay, it is normal to feel that you are not getting it, you just need time to process. Remember these are totally new concepts that you will need to acquire, and new skills that you are developing. Get as much help as you need, the community is there to support you through this journey.
Ask questions. It is really funny for me to give this advice and it's because I got this advice from someone else when I was studying. During the workshops there will probably be a number of things that are mentioned in the videos and you don't understand them. So, go to the Slack channel and ask questions to the community, there are women from all over the world, so someone will be awake to answer them.
The course material is really well organised, up-to-date and well delivered during the lessons. Matt also gives some advice throughout the videos on how to improve some skills, or where we could find more practise and explanation about certain things. Use all these materials to your benefit and start developing your new sets of skills. The future is really promising and SheCodes is here to help you get where you want to be.”
