Projects

I graduated from Hazleton Area High School in 2011 without a clear career plan. As I was figuring out what to do next, a counselor asked me what I wanted to pursue. Computers were the thing I kept coming back to. They affected so much of everyday life, and I wanted to be part of what people could do with them.

I could already put together a desktop computer. Choosing the parts and assembling them felt a little like building with Lego. But knowing how to put the hardware together left me curious about the software running on it. I wanted to learn how to code, understand how programs worked and build something of my own.

That interest took me to college. I knew the general direction I wanted to go, even if I didn't yet know which course of study would get me there.

Coursework. Fall 2012 and Summer 2013. Pennsylvania.

I started at Luzerne County Community College, pursuing what I understood as the Information Sciences and Technology path. At the time, I thought that meant the same thing as computer science.

It took trying it to realize that it wasn't what I had meant to choose. I wanted to get closer to the software itself. Recognizing that mismatch came sooner than acting on it, and I continued along the path I had started.

My LCCC coursework included computer applications and Intermediate Algebra. From there, I went to Penn State Hazleton.

Information Sciences and Technology coursework. Fall 2013, Spring 2014 and Spring 2015. Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

I continued studying Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State Hazleton. I stayed at Hazleton throughout my Penn State studies.

I was still moving forward, but I hadn't resolved the question of whether this was the right direction for me. Eventually, I needed to make the change I had been thinking about.

Enrollment, 2017. College of Engineering and Computer Science. Orlando, Florida.

At UCF, I was able to change my study direction toward computer science. Getting there involved transfer-credit evaluations, collecting syllabi and planning courses from the work I had already done.

But choosing a different subject didn't settle everything. I still felt uncertain about where I was going. College was expensive, and I wanted the time and money I put into it to mean something. I took a break to work and figure out my next step.

Between UCF and Lambda School, I worked in construction and specialized in air conditioning. I became an AC technician and was the youngest person on the crew. Many of the people I worked with were in their forties or older, with families and responsibilities that were different from mine.

Being around them helped me mature. Their approach to work rubbed off on me. I learned to put in the effort, prepare for the next day and see the results of working hard. I was developing a work ethic that would stay with me long after I left construction.

Then COVID stopped my AC work. I was home, but I could see people continuing to work in software. The interest I had talked about with that counselor was still there. This was a chance to return to it with more discipline and a clearer sense of what I wanted.

Full Stack Web Development. Certificate of completion, November 20, 2020. Online.

I chose Lambda School's online bootcamp. The program ran from nine to five, Monday through Friday. I built my own study routine around it: two hours before class, two hours afterward, and more time on weekends. Some days I kept going longer because I was enjoying the projects and wanted to understand more.

During lockdown, there wasn't much opportunity to go out. I put that time into the software I had wanted to learn since high school. The discipline I had developed in construction helped me take the program seriously and keep working through it.

I studied JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Node.js, React and Redux, and completed the program in November 2020. Then came the job search and, eventually, my first job in the software industry, near UCF in Orlando. The bootcamp had taught me React. My first job used Angular, so I learned Angular in the workforce.

My first software job used Angular. I had learned React at Lambda, so I learned Angular on the job, working through the training on its official website, learning from senior engineers and applying it in my work.

I took classes, watched videos and asked questions. Senior engineers taught me things I could try, and I kept exploring through YouTube, podcasts, articles and Stack Overflow. I would take an idea into a side project, work through it and come back with a better understanding or another question.

I kept studying before and after work, but there was enjoyment in it too. Sometimes something we were building at work made me curious enough to experiment on my own time. I wanted to see how it worked, try a different approach or build something just because it interested me. I had a lot of fun with that.

The discipline I had developed on an AC crew helped me keep learning. Working alongside other engineers gave me new things to investigate. Education continued through those conversations, experiments and projects, long after I had finished school.

Some of that learning became part of what I shipped. Some prepared me for work that was later canceled. Both belong in the record.

Professional development at Echelon Fitness

I took Learn TypeORM for NestJS Fast while working at Echelon Fitness and applied the learning in NestJS features.

Professional development at Echelon Fitness

I took Elasticsearch: Getting Started while working at Echelon Fitness. The planned Elasticsearch work was cut, so I did not ship it there.

Professional development · Integris Group

At Integris Group, I continued learning accessible web development, testing with assistive technology, Tridion CMS, .*regular expressions, and Agile and Scrum practices.

Professional development at PPL Electric

PPL purchased The Road to Next (Basic + Pro) licenses for the team. I applied that Next.js training to the Storyblok headless migration.