Student Spotlight: Get the inside scoop from Austin

Let’s Check in with Austin Gilinsky who is a student at LEARN. He has recently finished his 8^th week of class. LEARN why he made the decision to switch careers to web development and how LEARN is helping him gain the necessary skills.

1. What made you decide to choose a career in web development?

I was traveling around Europe and met a bunch of people who were working and traveling. They all had one thing in common, they were all web developers. I thought that was the coolest thing to be able to travel the world and make money while doing it. So I started researching how I could do that and came upon LEARN.

2. Do you have any past educational or work experience in web development?

I do not have any past education or work experience, but I was taking some courses on Codeacademy, lynda, FreeCodeCamp, as well as watching tutorials on YouTube.

3. Were you nervous about switching careers?

I was very nervous and scared. I am usually someone who likes to have everything planned out and not knowing what the outcome was very hard for me at first, but talking to friends and past alums who have completed bootcamps I knew that it was the right move for me. This quote below really helped me.

“Don’t fear failure. Fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today.”

4. Why did you choose LEARN Academy?

I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews and found out that LEARN would be the best fit. I emailed Hillary and set up a interview/tour and really liked what I saw. The Internship was also a huge selling point.

5. What week are you in? How are you liking your experience so far?

I just finished week 8. (Wow the time has flown by!) I really have enjoyed it and that’s not saying that there haven’t been days where I haven’t felt liking banging my head against the wall because they have been many of those. The stuff we are learning isn’t easy, but the instructors and classmates are all there to help when you feel like you know nothing.

6. What advice would you give students choosing to enroll in LEARN?

My advice would be to read, learn, and get as much exposure as you can and do the pre-work they send you. It will do nothing but help you and relieve some stress because there will be some stressful days.