The Art of Code
Kimmi Rindel is a quick-thinking artist from Christchurch who always wanted to learn how to code. At 20 she was among the youngest people in the Harakeke cohort. We talked to her about her experience at Enspiral Dev Academy’s web development school.
I did a Bachelor of Visual Arts, which is about art-making and theory. So you come out of it having made bodies of artwork in whatever medium that may be, and then a lot of theoretical stuff. I did a lot of illustration using Illustrator, and a lot of video work, but that was my own direction. It just needs to have a densely conceptual art foundation and you can take it in any direction.
I always wanted to learn how to code. I always thought it was so cool. Everyone uses technology, but they don’t really understand how it works. As participants of using this technology, people have a lot of good ideas about it. Any ideas about how to make things in life better, and the answer is technology.
My favourite thing on the first day of Bootcamp was that I’ve never really been in an environment where you’re on the same level as people from a whole bunch of different backgrounds. Going through art school I’ve had a whole bunch of peers or friends of similar ages and interests, and more or less similar backgrounds. And here, in terms of age, experiences, backgrounds, it’s so diverse. And I’ve made some really good friends here, and that’s great, because I don’t think I would have met them otherwise.
My lowest point was one of the days I decided to work by myself. I was already feeling low, and I was looking at the work, and thinking, ‘I just have no idea what to do’. And it wasn’t just me who was struggling, everyone was struggling, but I just felt bad. I had to leave and go for a walk. I just felt really dumb.
I think I just needed to release the feeling of feeling stupid. Actually talking about that to Marion, the Space Manager downstairs, and then everyone else who’s been feeling the same made me feel way better. And just dwelling in the sadness for a day and then feeling better afterwards.
The Human Skills side of the course has helped with a lot of those feelings. It was definitely noticeable in the first few weeks, the first four weeks when we did some of the deep-dives. Some of those were really intense, and I came out of it genuinely feeling more empathetic. Some of it was strange, like we had to meditate on the pain of ice cube on your hand! But it was really enjoyable, and noticeably working. I’m love it, I’m really into it.
And then the high points are when I’ve felt really capable. A few times when I’ve really felt like I got it, I had really nailed it, and really understood what we were doing. Working in a pair, or in a team and saying ‘What about this?’ or ‘What about this?’ My favourite part is when you do feel capable, and you are having different ideas of how to solve the problem. I really want that feeling all the time, but the reality is it’s not always like that. But I feel like the more I do it the more confident I’ll get, and the more that feeling will come.
I’ve been surprised by the connections I’ve made with my cohort. You really do become tight, like family, because you spend so much time together under pressure. Even if someone annoys you, you love them, just like with a sibling. So I thought that was really weird and I wasn’t expecting to make those types of relationships.
I’ve just been working part-time jobs my whole teenage years, so I’m a bit daunted by the idea of going out into the professional world. But we’ve talked a lot about resilience, and I think I am more resilient now, and confident as well. I’m feeling all good.
Apart from the technical stuff, which is like a mountain of information and knowledge in my brain, the personal relationships will be my big takeaway, I think. I just see relationships differently now, friendships and personal relationships. I’ve become more tolerant, which is good. I think the real impact will be clearer when I leave.
After I graduate, my dream job is that I’d really love to teach. Not all the time. But teach tech, maybe with a different angle, using my art background and theoretical background. The possibilities that these skills open up are really wide.
For our final group project, we worked on growing Mārama — a platform which brings together all study options and financial aid available in Aotearoa. A massive part of this project was collating and linking this data. The point of the project was to mitigate the confusion of finding this information online. We went all in and had a good amount of sample data for our demo, but we’re trying to find better solutions for gathering data and expanding the app in the near future. My fellow student Kristina Muller pitched the idea, I’m super grateful. We were really proud of our finished product.
If you’d like to learn the skills to begin your journey into technology, join Dev Academy today. Start Phase Zero by remote learning, before entering the in-class bootcamp in Auckland or Wellington. Graduate only 9 weeks later with the skills to become a junior web developer and craft the future. Apply now.
