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21st Century Skills

Networking Thursday (9/3) – Connect with other Treehouse Students!

Networking Thursday

Hey Treehouse Students!

We're back with another Networking Thursday – giving you the opportunity to connect with other Treehouse Students!

Last week's networking session was a blast! If you have friends you'd like to invite to this community event – please feel free to send them over!

πŸ’¬ How to participate in Networking Thursday:

Engagement Question

  1. Answer the icebreaker question: What keeps you motivated to work hard? ✨
  2. Introduce yourself!
  3. Share your LinkedIn profile URL for other students to connect to
  4. Share links and/or screenshots of the projects you've been working on
  5. Share your interests, hobbies, etc!
  6. Chat with other students here by responding to their posts!

Make those connections, support each other, leave some endorsements/recommendations on other student's LinkedIn profiles, lend a helping hand to folx in search of work in tech, and give some positive feedback on fellow student's projects. We're all on this learning journey together!


I'll kick things off! πŸ’¬

I'm Ryan Mouser, the Content & Community Marketing Specialist here at Treehouse. I was 15 years old when I started learning to code in PHP for a popular text-based MMORPG game. I've been with Treehouse for over 2 years now and have had the amazing opportunity to wear many different hats. I've been learning with Treehouse since 2015 (you can check out my previous profile here).

Currently, I'm working alongside our world-class team on some exciting opportunities to bring the Treehouse Community closer together. Stay tuned! πŸ˜€

Outside of Treehouse, I have the joy of living life with my incredible wife, our 3 awesome kids, and our 2 cat furbabies. We love to make music, garden, cook, play games, and watch fun TV (any Avatar: The Last Airbender fans out there?)

I am motivated to work hard alongside my partner in order to help bring our family's dreams and goals to fruition - as well as motivated in providing spaces where everyone can be empowered, learn, and have access to opportunities to make their dreams come true.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here. Looking forward to connecting with y'all!

Happy networking! :)

Hello Everyone! I'm currently enrolled in the UX design tech degree and I am also a slack champion for the UX design tech degree! I love to chat with other students and help motivate them throughout the course and share articles. I am new to UX design but worked at a start up recently where I did customer support which is what most of my working background is in. Ux design is a step up from helping customers which is what really attracted me to the field, helping customers in a completely different and radical way. I was always the person at work who would be like, isn't there a more efficient way to do this? Or, I am noticing that this is a similar pain point across the board.. it was like life was kicking me into UX design where I could actually have some influence over how people interact with products! What keeps me motivated is my husband. I love being outdoors, gardening, home decorating, listening to podcasts, psychology and creative writing. I love to learn new things and share what I am learning to really cement the knowledge. Here is my LinkedIn profile. I do not have a portfolio yet as I am building one.

www.linkedin.com/in/melinda-franklin-46935b1b3

19 Answers

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Hi Everyone, Nick here. Nice to meet you.

What motivates me to work hard?

I'm in the middle of a career pivot. I worked as a food scientist for almost 20 years after receiving a Master's Degree in Food Science. It's a really interesting field but required me to travel more than I'd like and I often found myself working on things that were not meaningful or interesting to me. Plus long hours traveling and running plant trials were a real bummer! It took a lot of time away from family, which is my first priority. I'm partially retired and seeking to work on things that I want to work on, rather than have to work on. Also, not having to commute would be huge!

I'm a health coach and trainer but find lately that I'm drawn more to tech, not just for a steady paycheck (which would be nice), but for the intellectual challenges it offers.

I'm working as hard as I can to become a Front End Web Developer and hopefully eventually a full stack developer. I love the web, the written word, conveying, and teaching information. I hope to turn this passion into a skill that I can use in my new career and as an addition to my skill stack that I can use for the rest of my life.

Here's my LinkedIn. Let's connect!

Claire Tregunna
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Claire Tregunna
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 38,066 Points

Hi nick. I started my career in food to, Michelin star trained chef, but it was incredibly hard work and stressful and ultimately not for me. What drew you to tech from your current career path?

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Hi Claire, Thanks for asking! Nice to catch-up and network outside of the Slack!

I used to have to travel for work and had a long commute. I have two young children and was missing more than I wanted to. My wife and I have been diligent savers and budgeters so after some time I was able to stop working and stay at home and take care of the kids mostly full time. I've also been doing things like health coaching and training folks as side gigs. My wife wants to retire soon but I still want to work, so I chose tech since it's field that seems stable, reliable, rewarding and enjoyable. Plus I'm a nerd and love science and technology.

Thats awesome that you're changing careers- thats a huge step for anyone! It's so easy to want to stay in one place. I agree commuting can take a lot out of a person! Good luck in working towards FEWD, there is so much to learn isn't there?

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing your story, Nick Huemmer. We are cheering you on as you work toward your career goals.

Jelena Feliciano
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Jelena Feliciano
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 12,729 Points

Hi my name is Jelena this is my link to my linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/jelena-feliciano-b8ab3a155/ I'm currently not working on any projects to share I'm on unit 2 of javascript and trying to understand as much as I can. If anyone has any suggestions on how to begin a project I would be happy to receive the insight. My hobbies consist of playing guitar and when my foot isn't broken (like it currently is), I enjoy paddle boarding and this thing called geocaching. I enjoy spending time outside hiking and finding notes a long the way is always a joy.

Claire Tregunna
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Claire Tregunna
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 38,066 Points

Ouch, sorry to hear you have a broken foot. Good excuse to keep coding though. If I am doing a project for practice, I just imagine a company in a particular field and code a site for them. So far done a AV support for a university and a tea shop so far. Hope that gives you food for thought

Great to meet you! I think talking to other students in the field is a great way to gain insights. Kudos to you for reaching out!

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Geocaching is cool! We tried it a few times as a family and should try it again. Sorry your foot is injured - hiking and paddle-boarding are such good activities!

Hey Jelena Feliciano – great to meet you! So sorry to hear about your foot. Hope you get better soon.

Claire Tregunna
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Claire Tregunna
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 38,066 Points

Thought I'd pop in and say hi

HI!! I graduated from the FEWD Tech Degree last month and loved it. If and when funds allow, would love to take the UX tech degree.

My current portfolio which will no doubt change soon

https://c-tregunna.github.io/

Been on treehouse for a number of years now and coded on and off in that time, but now I have really found a passion for it.

So what keeps me motivated to work hard? I'll answer that twice...

  1. With coding, when I see something and then I want to know how that works and how can I achieve that outcome. Sometimes to go beyond my skills which sets me back, but I take a breathe, step back and start again

  2. In work life, what motivates me is when I am at work and I see animals going off to their new homes and settling in with their new families. That is why I do what I do

Great to be part of this community and constantly learning and helping people.

Nice to meet you all, feel free to say hi on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/claire-tregunna-16855943

Hello Claire! The UX techdegree is wonderful! I am thinking about doing the FEWD when I am done with the UX design tech degree. Also I love that what motivates you as far as coding goes is figuring out how something works! Such a great skill to have... asking "why does that work" will help you to become proficient in whatever it is you are working on... and practice, of course!

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Hi Claire, Nice to meet you! Do you work in Animal Rescue? Have you been doing any development since you finished FEWD?

I love your dog profile pic! Is that a Westie?

Awesome portfolio, Claire! Thanks for participating.

Hey treehouse friends!

To stay motivated to work hard, I like to focus on my "Why". Why am I doing what I am doing? I am learning programming to enter into a career that is right in my sweet spot. (Something I am good at crossed with Something I absolutely love to do.) Why do I want a job that is in my sweet spot? Because I know that I am capable and worthy of not settling into a career that does not fuel my passion.

I would love to connect with you all via LinkedIn or you can find me on most social media platforms as @n0nb1naryDev

I am currently working on a 3d First Person Pacman game that should be available on my Website next week! Keep an eye out!

Until then I have a couple of other demo games to play around with :D

I look forward to connecting with you all!

Hello Mel! I go by Mel as well :) I love how your focus is on "Why" like I commented on Claires post, asking "Why does this work" really is an important question to keep in mind when learning anything new... it will make you proficient in whatever it is that you are working on! With hard work and practice too of course :) What got you into creating games?

Always great to define and focus on your "Why"! Thanks for sharing, Mel!

Noelle Szombathy
Noelle Szombathy
10,043 Points

Hey everyone, I'm Noelle. I'm motivated to work hard because I love learning new skills and accomplishing goals that I set for myself. I'm transitioning from graphic design to web and software development. One of my first complete projects is https://noellered.github.io/fontpal/ which helps graphic designers quickly pair google web fonts. I'm now learning backend dev so I can further expand my skillset.

You can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noelle-szombathy/ or on my portfolio website: https://noellered.com/

I'd love to get to know other developers, hear about your backgrounds, and possibly collaborate on projects in the future!

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Hey Noelle, You have some nice sites put together. Really cool stuff! The font pal will come in handy for lots of folks for sure. Graphic Design is a great skillset to have for a FEWD!

My wife went to Davis and her parents used to live in Sacramento. We used to go to Sac almost every weekend and are playing around with the idea of relocating there (even though my in-laws have moved to NC, where I'm from).

We're in Walnut Creek now, hiding from the pandemic and smoke.

Hello Noelle!

Great to meet you, Noelle Szombathy!

Devops engineer here , I just wanted to learn ( understand ) front end a little better. Feel free to connect with me over at linkedin

Hi diego ramirez-ortiz, great to have you here!

Rohald van Merode
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Rohald van Merode
Treehouse Staff

Hey All :wave:,

I'm Rohald, based in a small city near Amsterdam. I'm motivated to work hard to keep improving myself and be able to provide the best for my family. I've been working at my current employer (Electronics retailer) for nearly 12 years now and had a lot of different titles over those years. Now I got to a point where I'm not able to grow any further within the company and I've decided to change career in to tech.

My hobbies consist of traveling (paused due to Covid), enjoy the outdoors, photography and ofcourse coding. In the past 4-5 month's I've been doing the Front End Web Development techdegree here at Treehouse which I enjoyed loads! Currently I'm working on some different courses (CS50 & JavaScript30) and fine tuning my projects / portfolio before starting the FSJS techdegree.

If you want to checkout my projects made in the FEWD techdegree you can find my portfolio at https://rohald.codes (still work in progress) and I'm looking forward to meet fellow developers so feel free to connect on LinkedIn

Impressed by your site! Can't wait until I can make something as sleek as that.

Bo Jacober
Bo Jacober
583 Points

Hello everybody! My name is Bo - I'm the Director of Marketing and Production here at Treehouse. Here's my Linkedin Profile. Would love to connect with you!

We're currently working on some new email content for Treehouse students (check your inbox tomorrow morning PST πŸ‘€), new Treehouse landing pages and site features, and a LOT of other strong work from the team.

My hobby right now is golf 🏌️ I grew up in Arizona (lots of golf courses) and my dad taught me how to play at a young age. I have fond memories of time on the course together with him and friends. Later, I moved to New York for about 10 years and didn't play at all. Ever since I moved to Oregon, I've been trying to play often. It's been a great way to challenge myself to get better at something, unwind, and socialize with friends. For those that have never played - I highly recommend it! There are a ton of very good, accessible municipal courses that welcome people from all backgrounds. Don't put any pressure on yourself. Getting out there can be a rewarding and rich experience. This video (cw: language) is a little over-dramatic, but highlights some of the great and affirming mental sides to the game.

What keeps me motivated to work hard? Accomplishing ambitious goals. I like to do an exercise at the beginning of every year where I write down three outlandish goals on a post-in note, and keep it where I'll see it several times per day. I've had a lot of success accomplishing things that felt impossible at the beginning of the year. And even with those that didn't work out, the journey brought me to a new, better place.

Love reading all of your stories and look forward to connecting. If you ever have any feedback or thoughts, you can reach me directly: bo.jacober@teamtreehouse.com. Thank you for being a part of this community!

Hello Bo! I love the idea of putting goals on a post it note. What a great way to remind yourself everyday that it takes steps to get to where you want to be! When I have done similar exercises but maybe didn't quite meet my goal, I found that I noticed I learned something new or reached some other goal that I didn't write down and gained great insight... so I totally agree that it can bring you to a new, better place.

Also it sounds like you are really passionate about golf! That is awesome and made me think of adding a sport into one of my hobbies. I used to play tennis here and there and currently have been playing corn hole in my backyard which is probably more of a game, but It may be considered a sport to some!

Hello Everyone,

I am also in the process of changing careers. I am coming from the hospitality industry. I have worked in hotels as a pastry chef. I have completed the UX Design tech degree here and then I did Udacity’s front-end development nanodegree. I am now applying to positions and still learning about this new industry.

Would love to connect on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-cayer/

Awesome! Congratulations on graduating from both degrees. What is your ideal company to work in?

Hello Melinda,

Thank you. I have been looking at two different typesβ€”the agency route and then a larger company that has a dedicated UX department. Banking I feel.

Awesome!!

I know you are still early on in the process but have you thought of your ideal company?

Yea, I am interested in Agriculture tech as I live in a rural place so that really seems to inspire me some. I also would not mind working for an e-commerce company. So far I feel pretty inspired by places like thrive market, imperfect foods and the like that work towards reducing food waste and helping the environment.

Great to meet you, Patrick Cayer! We're cheering you on as you switch careers.

Hello All! Abdul here! nice to meet you all! I live in Plano, TX, and married with two daughters. I am trying to excel in my career trying to learn Python for my day-to-day use and also would like to become a data engineer someday. I am started with Treehouse initially for my daughter but now I am going to learn from experts.

Apart from my job, I like to help people as contributors to the community and help them get better. Currently, I am trying to help my daughter also learn Python while she is going to college.

Here is my linked profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdulktx let's connect maybe we can learn a thing or two!

Hello Abdul! That's awesome you and your daughter are learning Python together!

Hi everyone! The biggest thing that motivates me to work hard to learn code is my day job. I like my job but I also really want to freelance as a web developer. I'm currently taking the front end web development track and I can't wait to finish it, and begin a freelance project!

Nice! What is your favorite thing so far about the FEWD?

We're cheering you on, Zachary Pierpont!

Melinda Franklin So far my favorite is JavaScript! It's amazing how much you can do with it!

John Moran
John Moran
3,536 Points

What keeps me motivated to work hard? My future. I was lucky enough to get a job after I was furloughed because of Covid, but before my start date, I decided I finally wanted to learn this trade. I started with Free Code Camp and then was introduced to this by a friend who was in the industry. This has been very helpful and I can now see the progress I have made.

When I am able to build small parts of a whole, I gain a lot of satisfaction. I just worked on the City Guide CSS project and was able to get almost all of it with some help from my notes. It was a proud moment for me.

So I am going to work my job (for as long as I have it) and when I get down during the day, put in the hours I need to at night. I am going to keep going because I know that this will make a difference in my future.

Best of luck to all, and hope you enjoy the long weekend!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnymorandigital/

Hello John! It sounds like you have a ton of resiliency and it sounds like working in tech is really perfect for you especially when you say you feel satisfied building small parts of a whole. Good luck in your studies!

Nice to meet you, John! Best of luck with everything!

What keeps me motivated to work hard? Hi I'm Mike, from good old Canada or the Great White North - whichever describes it best!

The thing that keeps me motivated to work hard is to make positive change for my family. Been working to learn to change career paths during these trying times.

Been working on a few things over the past while:

  • a ToDo app with Browser persistence,
  • two express apps hooked up to a mongo database
  • api testing framework using postman + newman,
  • and, a couple of UI automation frameworks using different technologies (Selenium + Test Cafe). https://github.com/mgmacdougall

Side projects are just for fun, and the testing frameworks are part of my portfolio for my current career (automation testing).

Like to play video games (Detroit Becomes Human, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Civilisation). And also working out and exercising. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/macdougallm

Great to meet you, Michael!

Hey everyone,

I am Mahdi from Software Engineer in Malaysia, Currently I am working and studying at same time. I am studying my master in data science & business analytics. (Full founded by Asia Pacific University)

Work experience : -4 years in Smart Home industry as system integrator & programmer -2 years in Education industry as researcher & developer

I hope my future will be in one of big companies like google and Microsoft & honestly the money that I spent on treeHouse was more useful than my degree. ;))

My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjse/

Hi Mahdi! Amazing learning journey you're on - keep after it!

Good day everyone, I am Emmanuel, I recently graduated from King's College London in computer science and have been programming since 2014, my main programming languages are Java and C# but have an intermediate understanding of Swift and JavaScript.

The Sparta Global course will be my first experience with working professionally in the tech industry. My motivation is the fact that I believe the sky is the limit for anyone who is passionate about the booming tech industry and being ambitious and hard-working coupled with a bit of luck could lead to endless possibilities through programming. There have been many great advances in medicine, sporting, social communication, transportation and shopping all due to technology and it will only get bigger. I hope in the future I can add to these great advances and help communities that need technological advances.

My LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-buraimo-7037b612b/

Great to meet you, Emmanuel!

Hey Guys!! I'm Luis, I'm taking the Front-End Web Development track, and basically I'm planning on taking them all XD. I'd really like to make friends and colleagues to share experiences, knowledge and maybe make projects together, that would be reaaally cool.

The fact that I know I can reach my goal to be a really good developer keeps me motivated to work hard. I believe that anything you set your mind you can do it, even if it is harder for you, eventually you'll make it. I'm not gifted nor talented but at my own pace as long as I keep moving forward I'll reach my goal.

I'll leave my links here:

Here's one of my projects on JavaScript - Background Generator

I'm a christian, I'm from Dominican Republic (I speak Spanish), I play piano, I'm no pro but I really like playing piano and learning about music and now Programming more than ever. Nice to meet you guys! God Bless You!!!

Hello Hello Hello! πŸ‘‹

My name is Kirby. I recently left a 5 year career in teaching public special education on the middle school level to pursue web development. Prior to that I worked in Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism.

What keeps me motivated to work hard is the need to stretch my brain. I don't like stagnating in life and working hard in any aspect is a way to combat that! I'm also very motivated to change careers currently. Usually I can re-motivate myself if I listen to experiences other self-taught web developers have had.

LinkedIn

I'm currently following the front end dev track here at Treehouse. I started creating a basic website about the first generation of Pokemon games using the CSS Basics course after I went through it once. πŸ˜€ Next I'm going to try to create a site for my mom's business without using the course for reference. Then I think I'll be ready to move on to more JavaScript!

I enjoy art, meditation, reading, gaming and working out.

Saying hello to all who read this post!

Hey all!

My name is Ave. Some of you here already know me and we've connected on LinkedIn :) For those, who I haven't met before here's my LinkedIn profile - happy to connect! Or if you are more of a Twitter-type then here's my Twitter.

I've been learning Python for a while now and though I have been looking into other programming languages as well this summer, I feel Python is the one I would like to focus on and build projects in. I have some small projects which I have built and you can find code samples on my GitHub.

This week I completed the #100DaysOfCode challenge via Treehouse which really helped me to focus on my studies daily. I am planning on starting a new round very soon.

Small wins in coding keep me motivated. For example, I am currently working on this coding project where I am adding functionality to it step-by-step. Whenever I get a small block of code to work the way it's supposed to it really feels great and gives me a motivational boost to take on the next step!

Also, it motivates me to know that I am not alone on my tech journey and there's a great community here to support me :) It's also important to give back so if you need some assistance and it's my area of expertise I am always glad to help!

Have fun studying and good luck on your tech journey!

Ken Stone
Ken Stone
29,703 Points

Hi

Most recently I've been freelancing primarily as a custom WordPress plugin and Woocommerce extension developer. I'm currently moving toward MEAN full-stack or related development.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenstoneblue/