When Lita started programming, it was so frustrating that she contemplated quitting many times. Her experience showed her that anyone is good enough to enter this field. Lita is now a Senior Structure Engineer at Lyft.
Hi, I am Lita, one of your mentors for the upcoming Girls in Tech Android Developer Bootcamp, Powered by CodePath, launching in Singapore. I first started programming when I was a Junior in college. I enrolled for C++ in the Intro to Programming class, before advancing to University of California, Berkeley’s curriculum and learned Scheme.
It was the most challenging and frustrating thing I have ever done. I wanted to quit many times and felt like I wasn’t good enough. But I am so glad I stuck it through. Honestly, at the time, coding seemed like something only boys did. I wanted to prove to myself that I can be just as good as the boys. Now I realize that was pretty naive, and anyone is good enough to enter this field.
I graduated from the CodePath Android Developer Bootcamp in 2015. I heard about CodePath, back when it just started, through a meetup group back in 2013. I ended up doing Hacker School at Recuse Center and heard Nathan, who created and taught CodePath’s program, was an amazing teacher and really wanted to try Android Development using this new learning style.
It was a life-changing experience. I never thought I could learn Android that quickly and efficiently with minimal frustrations and I worked so hard in that class because I was having so much fun. The program helped me to strength my workflow with APIs, in general. I have a better understanding of the full mobile stack and also gained a lot of confidence about what apps I can build from scratch.
This is my third time serving as a mentor for the Android Development Bootcamp.
I choose to give my time to this cause because I couldn’t have gotten here without great mentors before me, such as Nathan, and I really want to do that for someone else who is just starting out. Being a mentor has also solidified my understanding of the Android, and improved my ability to teach and guide.
On top of honing my programming skills, CodePath even provided us with guides on mentoring and I have gotten great presentation tips, how to prepare for a class, etc. I am so impressed with Nathan and Tim, who created and taught the program for iOS at CodePath, and am constantly motivated by how much work they have put into building a great curriculum.
It is rewarding to be able to explain things and help someone out and I have gotten great feedback on my teaching. Being able to mentor others is a skill you will use not just in your career, it is a skill for Life itself. Learning how to explain complicated concepts has made me a better engineer. I feel like women mentoring other women is super beneficial as I tend to feel isolated in the work environment if I am the only woman.
If you are a passionate engineer who wants to make a difference, join hands with Lita as a Mentor at our Android Development bootcamp. Apply here before 31 December 2016.
Want to advance your career as mobile developer? Register as a student for the fully sponsored Android Developer bootcamp classes in Singapore by 29 January 2016.
*This blog post series was originally named “GIT X CodePath Meet our Mentor” to support our advanced Android Development Bootcamp classes. This program has been postponed due to a lack of qualified signups. Stay tuned for updates on when applications reopen.
