How I Became A Software Engineer IN LESS THAN A YEAR

[Music] my name is Devonte and despite what things may seem I'm far from perfect despite being a software engineer I'm not the best at math and I'm definitely not super smart but what I certainly am is Relentless let me tell you the story of how I went from not even knowing what an engineer was to making over 130 thousand dollars a year as a software engineer at Squarespace the first step towards becoming anything is proper exposure it's virtually impossible to get a career in Tech if you aren't even aware of the opportunities available to you and like a lot of kids growing up in inner city neighborhoods my school didn't offer me this exposure my journey began when I found code Nation a program designed to bring computer science lessons to schools that don't have them and it was here that I began to learn the very basics of web development being exposed this early meant that when it would come time to seek more knowledge I would have already become comfortable with the basics though honestly a lot of that feels like it was luck because if that program had chosen the school right across the street I'd have been none the wiser if you're watching this video then in some way shape or form you've already been exposed which means you completed the first step now it's time for the hard part when I turned 17 I had to make a choice that would decide what the rest of my life looked like but in many ways that choice had already been made for me so I went to college where semester after semester each Calculus class dug into me deeper than tuition dug into my pockets but worst of all despite all these classes I didn't really feel as though I was actually learning anything I started to realize that the traditional path prescribed to me by my family was not right for me I often found myself questioning the value of the knowledge I spent countless hours cramming into my head was I learning this because it was useful or because I needed to know what to pass a test I would later learned that this was a symptom of an outdated education system no longer designed to set us up for success unless you're willing to shoulder the burden of a hefty student loan for the foreseeable future because only then could I have afforded to go to a school where the professors actually care and the curriculums make sense but College wasn't a complete waste of time when I left I realized that this place taught me the value of being Scrappy reaching for every resource available to you and using it to get ahead but you can't learn that from books you learn that through pressure a trial by fire of sorts so at the behest of family and the guidance of society I had spent three years in college but I couldn't see a clear path forward it was supposed to be simple I had done everything I was told and yet my future still felt so uncertain I couldn't go on like this and so I took a leap of faith foreign so what I'm about to show you is something that's never really been done before it's one of a kind but it's where my journey really began come with me [Music] welcome to the Marcy lab school a software engineering Fellowship where I spent a year sharpening my mind honing my skills and expanding my network all for the price of 3.99 but the catch was I had to be the first so unfortunately for me the Marcy lab school at the time wasn't exactly a sure thing we were a bit of an experiment because nobody had ever done this before we pretty much started with just nine fellows and we spent a year trying to build this thing out and it turned into something absolutely beautiful we spent that year essentially learning how to efficiently digest large amounts of information in small amounts of time which would allow us to be capable of learning any technology in any company this meant having an emphasis on the foundations of software development like data structures and algorithms rather than learning specific Tech Stacks because with a strong Foundation you can essentially build anything on top of it we'd begin every day with a code Challenge on the same level as those you'd find in technical interviews because being able to get past that part of an interview process is table Stakes if you want to compete you'll need to be ready for anything personally I'd actually recommend cracking the coding interview by Gail McDowell if you're currently getting ready for job interviews at the end of college you're promised this piece of paper and that is supposed to give you Merit that is supposed to say you're capable of doing this job however at Marcy instead your work and your experience is your Merit now if you don't exactly believe what I'm saying because I've gone through this program three years ago how about we going to talk to somebody who has more relevant experience [Music] you there my friend hello tell me your name uh my birth certificate says Isaac what made you choose the Marcy lab school oh damn that's a good question um I feel like I would have wasted a lot of time in college and thus I wanted to do something that was just like focused mainly on what I wanted to do and not like all the other extra unnecessary things that are just going to be draining my energy time and money so I decided you know marshy sounds pretty cool plus you know it's free it's like yeah and free code amazing thank you very much uh I'm Chris Christopher Pico why did you choose the Morrissey lab school over College I was going to college during like the pandemic and I realized that people don't care about you there I was trying to pursue a CS career I'll seek for help from my teachers or my classmates and they will say like hey like yeah I got you but I never did I felt like I was just being pushed to the side no one really cared about that I was a beginner I was looking for other places one day I was just sitting on the couch I was on like Yo God like CSS for me please send me a sign and like 10 minutes later my girlfriend gets some emails saying like oh join the martial lab school I'm like Marcy what is Marcy I've been here for a year and it's been great like I feel like people here support you I should care about you I learned so much and like well eight months I could create a whole project if I wanted to but yeah like I that's how I found Marcy and I'm glad hearing from the students is great and all but I think I'd like for you to hear from the people behind this as well um my name is Ruben agbana the co-founder and executive director of the Marcy lab school why did you decide to create the Marcy lab school I started Marcy because while I was teaching High School while I was a leader and a Dean at different high schools in the city I saw over and over again really smart talented hard-working students get into college every year but then have to take out a bunch of student loan debt to finance it or go to colleges that were financially accessible but that didn't have the resources to ensure that they graduated on time and landed incredible jobs once they graduated it just felt like the system was broken and we weren't admitting it to the students who were falling into a year in and year out my co-founder and I am I about to charge you know we found at Marcy because we thought that there should be a better option for students that college is a great option depending on the college that you choose but there should be better options out there too how was the Marcy lab school free how do you keep it free for each student yeah the Marcy lab school is tuition free for all of our students our students come and they study here for a year and they graduate debt free and that's something that makes us really proud Marcy is solving two really important problems that people care a lot about one this student loan debt crisis is real and there are a lot of companies there are a lot of individuals and foundations that care about seeing a solution to the student loan debt crisis emerge the second thing is that the tech sector is growing it's like the primary driver of our economy in the nation and even here in New York City there are a lot of people who want to see that the tech sector look more diverse right now people who are building the products that we use every day don't necessarily look like the people who are using those products when companies like JP Morgan Microsoft or tiger or a generous wealthy individuals invest in the Marcy lab school they sponsor tuition for our students they're doing so because they know and ultimately it will make the world a better place the Marcy lab school is here for young people who have a ton of potential ton of motivation a ton of intellect ton of curiosity and may not have found what they were looking for in college and just because that didn't work for you doesn't mean that you don't have a pathway into a career like Marcy had given me the gift of a marketable skill set and so I went out and got my first offer and the rest is history [Music] but before you go I can't end this video without a very important message from the person who first sparked my interest in Tech to begin with after all there's no dose of Devi without a Sprinkle of my best friend Shamar there is not a single right path through life's journey oftentimes many of us don't even have a map or a guide to help us Orient ourselves based on our unique starting points deciding where to go and what to do can feel a little like stumbling around in the dark people often try a path that works for others but often they end up finding themselves even more lost like we were in college for us we found that pursuing a non-traditional path to becoming software Engineers was the way forward for you who knows maybe you can achieve Success Through academics Talent OR Charisma what matters is that if you find yourself going in circles maybe it's time to try a different path being a first generation immigrant believe me when I say string from the popular path can be scary so don't be afraid to leverage your power to decide what happens next

Channel: Dose of Devy

Views: 75,147

Keywords: software engineer, how to become a software engineer, coding bootcamp, nyc, new york, storytime

Id: 7NORFid49vg

Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 01 2022