How I entered the new reality
Every year we are curious to see how our students find their way to CODE. Thais Correia is a #fourthdimension student studying Interaction Design at CODE. This is her journey.
When I arrived in Berlin almost three years ago, I had my first contact with the world of developers and designers. In something that now feels like a previous life, I worked in the health sector, and this digital world was far away from my reality. Curious about that digital, techie world, in 2018, I found ReDI school in Berlin, and I started my courses for front-end development.
After some months, I realized that I’m not enjoying it. This wasn’t something that I wanted to study. However, I sensed that there is no way that I could go back to my previous job. At least one thing was correct. I knew I would like to change my career and work with technology and digital products. I was just not sure what and how but I wanted to find the place for myself in that world that will be the best fit for me.
The turning point in my life was the COVID-19 crisis. In February, I was vacationing in my home country Brazil. I’ve made a decision. I would go back to Germany to live there for one more year, and then I will go back to my country. My life in Germany was far from ideal, occasionally really hard, and I never managed to work in my old profession. But most troubling, I couldn’t figure out how to change my career. A long-term return to Brazil seemed inevitable.
I went back to Germany one week before the lockdown. I worked for exactly one week, and then the crisis hit. I was fired. Devastated and unemployed, I saw all my plans disappearing. During all this turmoil, I decided to apply for two courses to keep my mood up and help my mental health during these uncertain times.
Both courses were online, one on UX design, and the other one an online course about education, the topic I started to be passionate about. Doing the course Active methodologies I’ve been exploring ways to teach and learn more autonomously.
I knew what was my initial motivation to take this course. I always wanted to do something in education, but I suffered a lot from traditional universities’ approaches. I had the feeling that they killed my curiosity and my willingness to study, deserting my big dreams about a Master or a Ph.D. After my second university, I just gave up. I despited the old and outdated system the universities had.
After some months of being unemployed and studying active methodologies and UX design, one unexpected thing happened. By pure coincidence, one day, I met a person who mentioned CODE in a conversation we had about new approaches to education. I went back home and searched for CODE. I read the website, and I found something quite unique.
Here it was. The university I was looking for, with the approach I believe in. Offering only three courses in digital product development, CODE was what I was looking for.
I applied. Just to see how the process works. Somehow in my head, I decided that I’m not going to live in Germany anymore and return to Brazil next year. In the admission process, I applied everything I learned by myself on this UX online course. I was admitted.
The next weeks were hard for me. It wasn’t a small decision to make. That was THE decision that will change my life. But it was one of those that you either need to take. Otherwise, your life will decide for you.
Fast forward, I decided to stay in Germany, start my studies and experience this place. After all, CODE seems like a place where people are working together, building something that will probably serve as an example for the future of education.
