I had grown tired of my previous career and was looking for some new direction. Software development simply looked cool at first and it seemed to be a good career path to follow. But once I started learning I quickly fell in love with the process and nowadays working around a skillset that I keep honing over time feels like the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my professional life. I completed my bootcamp and then stuck around to facilitate a few others for the next year and a half or so and probably two aspects of it marked me the most. The first is that FAC is a space truly shaped by the alumni so every cohort produces a new version of what it feels like to be there. I think this was a massive influence in my early learning and in how I approach development still today. There was so much room for shaping your own learning and so much focus on sharing knowledge that it let us create the ideal learning environment, whatever that might look for each of us. It also prepared us to carry those practices forward into our careers. The second was how we actually worked on real-life projects very quickly. It didn’t feel like a sterile classroom (that probably would have dampened my desire to keep learning) because we were working through real problems together and creating something tangible, particularly when it came to the Tech For Better projects.
Being a developer is a skill-based role and the great thing about that is that, no matter the state of the job market, anyone can do it. If you’re curious about becoming a developer then give it some hours and try your hand at it. And if you enjoy the process - if learning syntax and creating small web pages or apps is exciting and the frustration that comes with it feels worth the reward - then work with others. It’s honestly the best thing I could advise anyone to do, and it’s also something I’m super grateful to have done through FAC. Writing code is fun, sure, but if you want to really be a developer then get used working on solutions with others.
We are proud to see our founder Dan Sofer featured on the Coworking Values Podcast 🎙️
Thank you Bernie J Mitchell for highlighting why community-centered learning matters more than ever.
Listen here:
/p/how-coworking-became-a-launchpad
Thank you to Newspeak House for having us, @vinosangre for the amazing new shirts, and Alexis (FAC10) for bringing together 16+ cohorts of Founders and Coders graduates and current students together for a fun evening!
Kicking off our second Founders programme with FAC15 graduates, Kristina and Oliver, working with graduates from @gazaskygeeks Code Academy, Haneen and Ali. The two pairs will be collaborating from London and #Palestine, working together on social impact projects! 💫💫💫
Shout out to Matt for visiting us last Friday and giving a great talk, aptly titled "Why does this look shit?" 💩 Since graduating Founders and Coders, Matt has mentored in our Middle East campuses and course facilitated for FAC13.
Matt is now the lead developer @spillchat . We love to see our graduates work for companies that care deeply about the wellness of their employees, and Morocco seems to be the place to be these days, especially for a company retreat!
Here's another peek at what we're up to when we are not coding — Joe and Simon (FAC14) hiking in Paradise Valley in Morocco!
Joe and Simon participated in our Founders Programme after graduating our course and worked with developers @gazaskygeeks on Tech for Better projects. They are now co-founders of their cooperative digital agency — Yalla!
We'll be posting a story on their experience post-FAC very soon. Stay tuned! 🎉
Thanks to James and Joko from FAC16 for leading yesterday's #techforbetter workshop with Alex, who's tackling the challenge of supporting university students who lack employment opportunities and experience! ✨
Another great evening with our short course participants! Tonight we went over CSS basics and styled our tribute pages. Looking forward to getting started on JavaScript next week! ✨
