“I love what I’m doing.”
Enspiral Dev Academy is a 15 week web development course based in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand.
Alina Kireeva came to Aotearoa from Russia four years ago with no intention of studying development. She moved from working in the military to acting, before her dreams and her passion for creating prompted her to take the leap and jump into Enspiral Dev Academy in late 2018. We talked to her about her experience entering the world of tech.
“I heard about Dev Academy through friends of friends. By that time I had already started learning software testing, but I knew that to improve my skills I must learn coding, so I thought ‘I’m going to go to A Day in the Life and check if that’s what I need.’
After A Day in the Life at Dev Academy I was inspired even more, just by the relaxing environment and the people, because for me it means a lot to feel comfortable in the place you’ll be spending most of your time. So I applied, and then I started. At the very beginning of Phase Zero [now called Foundations] I didn’t feel very confident. That’s why I started to come into the Auckland campus, where I met students and teachers who showed me that it was okay to engage and ask questions. I saw that the students were enjoying the study. The fact that, while being very focused, they could find time to help me or communicate or do yoga was very impressive.
“It’s amazing to think that now I can help build and code those products, when I couldn’t a few weeks ago.”
When I started bootcamp I still didn’t feel very confident, because by week 2 you start to realise how much information you have to absorb, and see the range of skill levels within the cohort. This was where the Human Skills part of the course came in. It helped me a lot to stop comparing myself with others. Not only with classmates, but in general. I also started asking questions. The teachers told us to do this on Day 1, but I started after few weeks and that helped me a lot. And I did more study outside of bootcamp, because I really needed to do so. After a while, with all of those new attainments, I became more confident. A huge thank you to my cohort, who were supportive all the way through.
My advice to someone struggling to learn web development would be: do not procrastinate, ask more questions, and do more coding by yourself. Just do it, and you’ll get better.
“Just do it, and you’ll get better.”
The initial reason why I decided to step into the IT industry was money. However, now money is just an (awesome) bonus for me, because I love what I’m doing. I love that I can help friends by building websites for their businesses. And I love that I can create. Everything around us is becoming technological, it’s amazing to think that now I can help build and code those products, when I couldn’t a few weeks ago. That’s so exciting.
Being able to live anywhere and work remotely is a dream of mine, and it’s my hope that these skills will take me there. I would love to be able to work anywhere in the world, including my home country. For now though, my goal is to find work that will let me continue travelling and to own my own house. It feels amazing to have gained the skills that make these dreams and goals actual possibilities now.
Dev Academy — Now with Student Loans! If you love technology, have a passion for learning and the tenacity to work hard, this is for you. Deadline to apply for the next cohort is January 31st, and you could be graduating by the end of May. Don’t miss out — Apply now: https://www.devacademy.co.nz/apply-now.
A Day in the Life is a one-day Intro to Dev Academy on Friday, 8th February. It’s the best way to see why web development is right for you. Sign up now for Auckland or Wellington.
