Java Bootcamp case study reviews from actual students

Java Bootcamp student review from Angel Rivera – Veteran

Why did you enroll?
I enrolled because I wanted to learn how to code. There were plenty of job offers for developers, and I wanted a good paying job. Once I started coding, I fell in love with it, and I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

How hard was it?
I would say it was challenging more than anything. I was lucky to ‘get’ what was being taught really quickly. The challenging part was then applying what I had learned to what I wanted to do. It was definitely very time consuming.

What is life like now?
I love my life. I wake up every day happy to go to work. I love the liberty that it has given me. In regards to work, I am able to make my own hours, and I am constantly coding solutions to complex problems that are up to me to solve. It also gave me the liberty economically to not have to worry about paying my bills. I am able to make enough money to pay my bills, save for retirement, and enjoy my youth. This was all thanks to the tools that SD showed me how to use.

Java Bootcamp student review from Alex Peterson – Veteran

Why did you enroll?
I wanted to change my career and education path without completely restarting school and spending 4 more years going to college.

How hard was it?
The program was challenging but manageable.

What is life like now?
Its good. I’m currently making 65k a year at a very laid back job, and I’m looking to make a change to something more challenging with higher pay and in a different location. It seems like there are a lot of jobs out there that offer this.

Java Bootcamp student review from Kaylee McHugh

Why did you enroll?
I was working in marketing, and I kept encountering times at my job where I was hindered by our software development. My company wanted to work off of their own app, but they didn’t hire professional software developers to built it. Because of that, I couldn’t do my job effectively. I figured, “Hey, software engineers make a lot of money, and I think I’d be pretty good at it, so why not try it out?”

How hard was it?
There were definitely a lot of times in the beginning that I was worried I’d drop out of the program. Nothing really made sense to me for the first month, but I kept working hard, kept staying late, and then all of a sudden everything clicked.

What is life like now?
I got a job three weeks before graduating from Skill Distillery, and still work at that company 6 months later. My salary here is 50% more than my job in marketing, and I just received a substantial raise. I really love my co-workers, and love being challenged every day. Life is good 🙂

Java Bootcamp student review from Sara Lobster – Veteran

Why did you enroll?
I had thought about getting into coding for a long time (started in CS in college, didn’t quite stick then). I just didn’t have a clear pathway back to it. I’d been through lots of college already and wasn’t planning on going back. I stumbled upon Skill Distillery by accident. I had heard of other bootcamps, but I didn’t trust them. When I read about Skill Distillery, I felt very reassured that I would gain skills that were actually in demand, and my best interests were in mind when the program was designed. Also, the GI Bill was covering it, so I wouldn’t be out any money if it didn’t work out! So, it was a very small risk.

How hard was it?
Oh, it was really really hard. I had a little bit of a leg up in the beginning because I remembered a few slivers of Java I had learned back in the day. But it was still grueling. Every time I thought I was on the verge of grasping something, it was on to a new topic. I got completely exhausted about halfway through and had to scale back my expectations for myself. At least Cole Frock was there to reassure me that everything would be ok in the end.

What is life like now?
Life is f’ing amazing now! I got an awesome job using the skills I learned at Skill Distillery. I love the people I work with. They have reasonable expectations of me (they know I know just a wee bit). My salary and benefits are way better than I thought I would ever have, so much so that I was forced to buy a house.