| | Gerard Degas | When I first started my journey into being a web developer I was completely wet behind the ears. I knew people who had coded and heard lots about how Coders make good money, but had no idea what I was getting into. I self-started by taking a few free online courses and quickly realized I wanted the high paced boot camp experience and needed one-on-one time with a seasoned instructor. I needed to make the choice to quit my job and enter a bootcamp, or continue in my current career. After graduating with a BS in Political Science I became a part-time high school teacher, which was essentially a default career. Teaching quickly became a struggle since I wasn't making great money and I started losing the passion for teaching. Managing a rowdy classroom and spending long nights grading papers didn’t offer me the challenging and rewarding career my college professors had promised.
I decided to speak with some of the people I knew in the Tech industry about coding. No matter who I asked I kept getting the same response; “If you want to learn code and make really good money, get really good at JavaScript.” I scarcely knew what JavaScript was, so I started digging and researching. I found some random resources through online courses, but they barely scratched the surface on the JavaScript iceberg. I needed the bootcamp experience. There were plenty of bootcamps to choose from: some were 6 months, some were 3, others taught Python, and others C# or some other random languages. I was completely lost on which to choose, but because I remembered what I heard from my Tech friends, I narrowed it down to the ones that focused on JavaScript.
In my hours of searching an ad for the Orange County Code School caught my eye. I immediately noticed the school offered web development with a focus on JavaScript and promised to transform new students having no JavaScript knowledge to “job ready’ coders in 3 months. What a promise! I decided to show up to an information session and that was when I first met Ron Perris. Ron is the director of OCCS and the reason it's one of best bootcamps. At OCCS, Ron takes personal responsibility for the success of the students, every single one. The school has a well deserved 100% student employment rate thanks to Ron’s infinite knowledge and mentorship of each cohort.
When I first started in the camp I was a terrible coder, I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of information. I had no idea what was going on, couldn't keep up and I struggled on a daily basis, but I made it and am so glad I pushed through! At OCCS Ron shows you the best practices and because he's been in the industry for so long, he's one of the best teachers JavaScript has to offer. You aren't getting random instructors that come and go, or previous students who become the new instructors. Ron's school has a tried and true philosophy that if you put in the work, it is a guaranteed formula for success. OCCS is the best JavaScript boot camp in the OC region to date. The lasting benefits that extend beyond just the three months of code camp are Ron’s industry expertise, his professional contacts and his relentless mission to get all his students a job as a coder, that makes the school worth every penny. I have my job thanks to Ron and every day I use things I learned at OCCS. I don't think I would've gotten that elsewhere. Just be prepared to put in the work.
Coders in the Tech industry use the analogy of drinking water from a firehose to explain the coding bootcamp experience, and they're right. Although it was tough, looking back now, I am so glad I made the choice to do it. Today I'm a full time front-end developer at a local startup, working on exciting technology on a daily basis. I am also a teaching assistant at UCI’s coding bootcamp. I would not have made those connections if it weren't for Ron and OCCS. All that I learned there, the coding skills and the skills of learning how to adopt the right mindsets, are invaluable to my foundations as a successful coder. Mostly, I'm grateful to have found a career I'm passionate about where I can make good money, that's not an easy thing to accomplish these days. OCCS helped me get there. |
