
Twice a year, every fall and winter, Green River College’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Software Development onboards a new cohort of students. Yesterday, we had the privilege of welcoming Cohort 11 to the program.
During the cohort meet and greet, 26 new students met their peers, participated in team-building activities, drew wisdom from guest speakers, and participated in a Q and A with faculty and staff on how to be successful in the program.
To kick off the event, we had students organize in small teams and introduce themselves to one another. We then gave each team five minutes to identify a common interest, then write a haiku about it.

Students also heard from Carmen Gallardo, Alicia Buehner, and Robert Hill, the trio behind BoardMasters, a student club at Green River focused on whiteboarding and technical interview preparation. Carmen, Alicia, and Robert did a great job promoting the club, offering tips for academic and career success, and fielding questions from the audience.
Instructors Josh Archer and Ken Hang next walked students through a students habits playbook activity.

Finally, we concluded the event with a round of Lean Coffee led by instructors Tina Ostrander and Susan Uland. This is a tried-and-true activity we use often that allows students to individually submit, then collectively vote on, questions and other topics of interest to discuss as a group.

More than just a fun networking opportunity, events like this help our students form peer-to-peer relationships and prepare for success in the program. At Green River College, we’re helping shape a new, more diverse generation of software developers to fill jobs right here in Seattle-Tacoma. At the heart of that enterprise? Students like this.
Welcome, Cohort 11!
Learn more about Green River’s bachelor of applied science in software development at www.greenriver.edu/software.

