Alumni Q & A with Patrick Boynton

We sat down with Patrick Boynton, who recently completed our 12-week boot camp. Read below to find out about how this classically trained musician found himself at Carolina Code School!

What brought you to Greenville?

I’ve lived in Greenville my whole life and have been in downtown Greenville for the past 20 years.

Can you share an interesting/fun fact about yourself?
I am a classically trained musician. I play classical piano, and have for 37 years, though it is mostly a hobby. I also write music a little but primarily focus on playing. My favorite composer to play is Bach.

What kind of experience did you have with technology before CCS?
Before coming to CCS, I focused primarily on C#. I have built several small projects on my own by following tutorials on the web. I also had some familiarity with Python and JavaScript, though to be honest, I did not use either very much.

What encouraged you to research and apply to Carolina Code School?
I reached a point in my learning where it was clear I had hit a wall. I was having trouble advancing my knowledge and felt something had to change. My brother had attended code school in Greenville prior to the establishment of CCS. He has had a successful programming career and I wanted to continue learning.

What was your experience like during the 12-week boot camp?
I was not used to this kind of schedule prior to boot camp. Mornings were packed with information followed by nightly homework assignments as well as larger projects over the weekend. At first, it was pretty overwhelming. I would recommend anyone going through the program ask for help. Mady was always available and helpful. She was always able to provide a fresh set of eyes on code I was struggling with.

What was a topic that you enjoyed learning about the most?
Working with Django and creating bits of logic that made the website run was really fun. I learned to appreciate the aspects of coding/projects that initially seemed really simple but ended up being more challenging. Accomplishing those specific projects was very rewarding – like my final project! A seemingly small part of the project ended up taking several days to complete, but the time and effort were worth it.

Tell me about your presentation/material you presented!
The idea behind my website was for it to be a place for users to visit to find out what times various planets, stars, and other phenomenon were in the sky. I also wanted to give users the ability to sign up for alerts via text message letting them know when specific events where happening. I wound up having to use two separate APIs for the project. One to get the rise and set times of the planets and stars, and the other to send the text messages. The thing I liked most about this project was that I was able to automate the rising and set times of the planets and stars every day.

Do you have advice for those thinking about applying or currently in the program?
Ask for help if you need it. Even if you have some experience with code. Whether that is from your classmates or from someone with CCS. They are there to help you and be a resource to you. I wish I had asked more questions, especially early on in the program.