Alchemy in the News

How are Alchemy students doing with the switch to remote?

This month, the Business Tribune featured Alchemists who are making the most of Covid adaptations and navigating the transition to online that everyone had to make last March.

Chelsea Spangler, Noah Puckett, Jose Ojeda, and Max Lamb all talked to journalist Joseph Gallivan about their experience in our software development program as part of our Spring Cohort.

“Learning computer code and becoming a software engineer is one of the few areas of the job market that, even in a pandemic recession, offers a chance of a living wage job you can do from anywhere,” said Gallivan.

While everyone misses the magic of being together in person, there are some silver linings. Our students appreciate the quality of written questions over spoken ones, and enjoy the extra time and flexibility that comes from eliminating their commute. It’s also a great way to experience remote work before going out into the job market.

Photo credit: Briseida Pagador. Training with Alchemy from her home desk, Briseida Pagador looks forward to working remotely, perhaps in another country, to support her family who immigrated from Peru.

Here are some of our favorite insights from the article:

Noah Puckett on equity:

“Puckett also found that the shy people, ‘especially women, people of color, other minorities who are used to trying to not take up space, digitally taking up more equal space.’ For example, people too shy to ask questions in an in-person lecture are now comfortable typing it in a chat, where their colleagues can also see it.”

Jose Ojeda on employers:

"They are all building dashboards for connecting with accounts. It's surprising how much tech there is now, in things you wouldn't even think about."

Chelsea Spangler on coding from home:

"My mental health has been much, much better since I started coding. It's really intellectually intense work. It's like solving puzzles."

Max Lamb on Alchemy instructors:

“Alchemy did a really good job of making sure we had everything we need. Because my teachers are insane, these people know everything that you could possibly want to know about coding. So, we have the ultimate resources in them."

Photo Credit: Jaime Valdez. Student Max Lamb in his favorite outdoor working spot.

Read the complete Business Tribune article here: Coding While Distant

Read about more grad stories here