Cohort Stories: Meet Christopher A.
vol. 4, no. 12 — guest post by Christopher Armand
I graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Minor in Entrepreneurship. A year or so into my career, I started working in the sales department of a tech startup. I enjoyed the hustle of the day to day, speaking with clients, talking through the deals that I had sourced with my account executives, and figuring out how I could improve each day.
A few months in, we got this new internal tool for the entire team, a phone dialer that was supported almost entirely by an intern of ours. My mind was blown; this kid who was still in college created a project that was critical to the jobs of 40+ people in the company.
I had tried a programming course in college, but it seemed so far away from what people were working on online that I didn’t continue with it. Working at this tech startup, rekindled my interest in software development, and I started trying some tutorials and playing around with some code. I ended up signing up for some courses at Boston University in Computer Science. I was intimidated at first but enjoyed the classes. There is no better feeling than when you have completely broken down and solved a problem that looked impossible to you only a few hours ago.
Working full-time while getting a degree in Computer Science has been challenging, and I have had my ups and downs, but it has been fulfilling. Every new course has been demanding, and I have learned a lot. I’m excited to join the Hack.Diversity program and work with a group of like-minded people, all from different backgrounds, all of them pushing to learn new things and achieve their goals in tech. My goal is to finish my degree and become a Software Developer in order to solve interesting problems. As I progress in my career, I hope to be able to give back and mentor young people of color and help welcome them into the tech community.
