Back to school…which programming school will I choose…Turing or Galvanize…
After being in the oil industry for over two years and with the downturn in oil prices I knew I wanted to take a leap of faith and switch careers to find something I could truly be passionate about. With the bankruptcy of our company fast approaching I was swimming in dark waters not knowing where my path led. It was on a beautiful Saturday morning when I went hiking at South Table Mountain in Golden, Colorado with my apartment neighbor that I finally came upon a sense of direction.
My neighbor was talking about how she was looking to change careers into a profession that was more challenging and creative. Plus, she mentioned how it was the perfect timing and opportunity for women to break into this industry. Low and behold this industry she was talking about was the explosive tech industry. She told me about Galvanize, which was the first time I had ever heard of it. The only coding I had done was in college in my one CS course during my undergrad in Marketing. I had no coding experience, but immediately after I returned home from my hike I started researching coding schools.
There were so many coding schools to choose from! But after learning about the immense possibilities and growth as an individual I knew I wanted to pursue this path. I learn best from a structured environment with human interactions, so I ruled out any online coding schools. After my extensive research online, interviewing students, attending info-sessions, and my convenient Denver location I decided to apply to Galvanize.
Before applying to Galvanize I prepped as much as I could while still working full-time. I completed multiple Codecademy courses and had a few books under my belt. I made it through the first admission phases, but stumbled with my technical interview. I was crushed because I couldn’t enroll in the course date I wanted and not to mention I was in a cloud of self-doubt. Despite this imposter syndrome I was determined to get accepted. I studied for another month and finally passed the technical interview. It was official I was going to start Galvanize in May 2016!
It was at the beginning of April that I ran into another neighbor who was actually a programmer. I told him how I was going to attend Galvanize and he suggested I look into Turing. Once again when I got home that day I immediately started investigating Turing. I went to an info-session where they were promoting their Front-End program, which was kicking-off in June 2016. After taking the technical interview for Galvanize I realized at that point that I may be more interested in the front-end side. Thus, this program sounded extremely appealing to me. The next week I decided to apply and within a couple days I was informed that I was accepted!
Now I was accepted into both schools and had to make the hard decision to choose which one to go to. And the winner was…Turing! After attending info-sessions and meeting students at both campuses I felt a stronger sense of community at Turing. Everyone was so supportive of one another and driven to make the best learning environment. The students are the main objective and the instructors really mold to the needs of their students. Plus, this Front-End program was perfect for me wanting to explore my creativity with design and user interface. Finally, after half a year of decision making I came to the conclusion to start my coding career at Turing! Wish me luck!
