How Square’s College Code Camp Connected Me with Ashton Kutcher
Square’s IPO last week got me thinking about my own personal relationship to the company.
Square was the first tech company I got to experience from the inside, through a program called College Code Camp. Code Camp is “a five-day immersion program, where you’ll attend coding workshops and leadership sessions, participate in a hackathon, and tour San Francisco — all while surrounded by women engineers from across the U.S. and Canada.” That sums up the program in one sentence, but it doesn’t quite convey how amazing the experience is, and it also doesn’t mention anything about Ashton Kutcher.
So allow me to elaborate: this is my 10-step journey through Square’s Code Camp and it could be yours, too! Visit https://squareup.com/code-camp/college to apply.
0. Applying
If you’re reading this post, you’re likely a prospective Code Camper who is wondering if Code Camp is right for you (if you’re just here for the Ashton Kutcher part, skip to step #6). To answer your first question: Yes, you should apply. To answer your follow-up question, here’s how I made my application more successful:
Full disclosure — I applied to the Winter Code Camp during my freshman year and was rejected. I didn’t submit a video, and I responded to the application questions in 3–4 sentences. Code Camp still seemed like the dream opportunity for me, so I re-applied for the Summer batch. This time, I wrote thoughtful essays and I put my time, energy and personality into a 30-second video. I’m a little embarrassed to be publicizing this, but I’m hoping it will provide you with some inspiration for your own application. This is a surefire way to make your application stand out.
By the end of August, I found myself in the lobby of Hotel Zetta San Francisco, getting to know the 19 other women with whom I would be sharing my Code Camp experience.
1. Visiting San Francisco
I’m originally from the Midwest and I go to school on the East Coast, so attending Code Camp was my first visit to San Francisco. Initial reaction: colder than expected. Fortunately, Square was one step ahead of me, and we were each given a special Code Camp hoodie, along with a backpack full of other treats. We spent the afternoon touring the city on a private cable car. Along the way, we bonded with each other, stopped for photos, and visited vendors to see Square Readers in action.
2. Dinner With a Purpose
That night, we ate dinner with Vivienne Harr, a ten-year-old entrepreneur who started a lemonade stand and then leveraged her social media presence to advance her fundraising efforts. Vivienne’s story highlighted the power of technology and social media as a force for social good. The dinner served to inspire and empower us as we kicked off the rest of the camp.
3. The Breakfast of Champions
The next morning, we got a tour of Square HQ and sat down for breakfast with CFO Sarah Friar and Engineering Lead Alyssa Henry. We discussed everything from work-life balance to the future of Square and the challenges of growing an international company. It was so valuable to receive support and guidance from such successful women who illustrate how far a foundation in engineering and computer science can take us.
4. Tech Treks
Next on the Code Camp agenda was a series of Tech Treks: 2 hour “crash courses” on topics we wouldn’t be exposed to through our coursework. I participated in iOS and open-source Tech Treks, but my favorite was the Android Tech Trek. Despite having never worked with Android before— as in, I’d never even touched an Android phone — I was still able to produce a functional app by the end of the two hours. The Square mentors who led the session were absolutely incredible, patiently providing us with individualized attention and helpful shortcuts along the way. It was a rare opportunity to be coding among a room full of girls, and I also engaged in pair-programming with fellow Code Campers. We worked perfectly as a team and kept an upbeat attitude throughout each session.
5. Advice from Jack Dorsey…
I was humbled and a little star-struck when Jack Dorsey took an hour of his time to engage in a roundtable discussion with us. We talked about his college experiences, his journey from Twitter to Square, his tattoo, and his favorite books. Since Square was also hosting a group from Girls Who Code for the summer, we had the privilege of listening to Jack’s thought-provoking speech at the graduation ceremony. I expected him to get up on stage and say something along the lines of “I believe in you and I am proud of you.” Instead, he argued that these sentiments aren’t as important as each of us saying, “I believe in myself and I am proud of myself.” That was important advice we all needed to hear.
6. …and Affirmation from Ashton Kutcher
But perhaps the most exciting part of the graduation ceremony came in the form of a video. Ashton Kutcher had visited Square HQ earlier in the week and was so impressed with all of us that he decided to leave us a little message:
7. A Fireside Chat
In the true spirit of a summer camp, we had a “fireside” chat. This was our opportunity to tackle the issues we’ve faced as women in tech. The discussion was a safe space to voice frustration, but I liked that we focused mostly on the constructive actions we could take to improve current circumstances. Included in our conversation were women from previous generations of Code Camp, which was a powerful indication of the support system and sense of community that would endure after our time at Square came to an end.
8. Mentorship
One of the most valuable components of Code Camp is the emphasis on mentorship. Each Code Camper was matched up with a Square engineer, and I was delighted when I found out that my mentor Kat was a Code Camp alum herself. In addition to being Kat’s mentee, I took on the role of a mentor to one of the high schoolers from Girls Who Code. Together, we represented confident, driven women in computer science across three generations — and hopefully many more.
9. The Hackathon
This was my favorite part of the entire week—the culmination of the Code Camp experience. I had never participated in a hackathon before, but the intimate and welcoming environment of Code Camp was the perfect place to start. Our hackathon was sponsored by Product Red, a brand created to fight AIDS in Africa through ethical consumerism. (RED) requested projects that would raise awareness for their campaign, specifically among female millennials.
Since Code Camp III took place while the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was gaining momentum, we were inspired to create a web app for editing photos and sharing them on social media. In the app, users decorate the faces in a photo with red parentheses, the iconic symbol of the Product Red brand. The photos could then be shared on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
I teamed up with my Code Camp roommate, Shirley, to implement our idea. I had never used Github or written a line of JavaScript before, but with the support of our Square mentor, Derrick (who pulled an all-nighter right along with us), we managed to finish our project by 6 am. In the morning, we pitched our app to the panel of judges. I was so impressed by everything my fellow Code Campers had created in just 12 hours! To make an awesome week even better, our project won the grand prize.
10. “Five-Days” Becomes “Forever”
Leaving Code Camp was bittersweet, but even though the program ended, the support network and sense of community has only grown. We still keep in touch through our Facebook group to share opportunities and coordinate informal meet-ups. We also reconvene every year at the Grace Hopper Conference. With each new batch of Code Campers, the network of Code Camp alums continues to grow and the sense of community becomes even stronger.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to apply! And Ashton, if you’re reading this, thanks again for the video.
