Blog Category: Alumni

Nathan Schmidt’s professional experience is nothing if not diverse. He has worked in a warehouse for UPS, served the U.S. Army as a cryptologic linguist, and today, synthesizes his coding and military backgrounds as a software developer for defense contracts at Booz Allen Hamilton—a Fortune 500 company based in McLean, Virginia.  After graduating from college with…

Before Gulden “Rose” Memis graduated from Temple University in 2017 with a degree in finance, she hadn’t pictured herself working as a sales associate for a marble and granite company in Pennsylvania. Yet that’s where she found herself—and it wasn’t enough. “My job in sales just didn’t present any challenges,” said Rose. “There wasn’t any problem solving…

When Shelby Reyes graduated from George Mason University in 2012 with a history degree, she moved to Philadelphia, hoping to put her education to work in museums. Instead, she found herself doing odd jobs in retail, then landing an office manager role at a preschool. She had always loved teaching (she had a prior associate’s degree in…

Jonathan Pickard had a job that many only dream of. For 11 years, he played video games professionally. He competed in six world championships and traveled all over the globe. Why did he give it up? “It’s a career that’s really fun when you’re 18,” Jonathan said. “But as you’re trying to settle down, it’s…

We share stories every day about the amazing participants who move through the program and enter the workforce. But what about the TAs who coach students through the programs? Working with the Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp helped prepare Anh Lu, Isaiah Harrison, and Mitch Philmore to code their way to victory at the 2019 Philly Codefest, Philadelphia’s premiere social good-themed hackathon.…

Fernanda Marroquin won’t slow down for anyone. Between her work with both a climate nonprofit and undocumented youth, Fernanda’s plate is pretty full. Things have always been this way for Fernanda. Since completing the Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp, though, she’s found a new way to spend her time—and help those around her. Growing up in a…

She worked a day job in fundraising. He picked up night shifts as a grave digger. Despite their very different lines of work, Nora Granahan and Michael McVeigh had one goal in common: they both wanted to learn to code—and hoped to eventually make a career change of it. Of course, switching careers is never…

Not many people close out a highly successful year at their job and then decide to jump ship. But that’s exactly what Dan Gross did. “I came out of a pretty successful 2017 and was on track for a great 2018. But I wasn’t really satisfied and certainly wasn’t being challenged,” Dan said. “There was room for…