Alumni Q & A with Kat Ingram

Meet Kat Ingram, a 2021 high school graduate and now, a Carolina Code School alumnus. Most high school students look to pursue a traditional college education, but for Kat, an opportunity to shadow a developer caused her to think about a different path. With the support of her parents, Kat enrolled in CCS and after completing the program, landed her first job as a software developer less than six months after graduating high school. Keep reading to learn more about Kat!

Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Greenville and just graduated from Eastside High School in June 2021. In high school I swam competitively- I have been swimming since I was 5 years old. It has been a big part of my life and being a part of a team has been really helpful, especially in code school.

What was your first exposure to the computers/tech industry?

During my junior year in high school, we had a job shadowing day and I was supposed to shadow my mom in her role as a copywriter. I ended up talking to the developers/interactive team and met Taylor Whitfield, a CCS alumnus. I ended up job-shadowing him the whole day instead! What he and his team did really piqued my interest.

I knew just from that day there that I wanted to go this route. So I took the foundations course at the end of summer 2020 before going into my senior year. Then, I ended up working part-time at a local web development agency as an intern for the majority of my senior year. This was an amazing opportunity and gave me more insight into the industry. It was hard with friends applying to college, but I liked it and knew I wanted to take that leap of faith.

My parents were really supportive. They were psyched that I found something that I enjoyed and it was a good career path.

Most HS students go straight into college, but you choose to jump into CCS' 12-week boot camp. Walk us through that decision and what that transition was like.

It was intense. At times I was like "man, I wish I had taken a break," but I think it also benefitted me since I was still in that same student mindset.

Having the summer break was good and having it be the same time as my friends going off to college made it easier. It was sort of funny being the youngest in the classroom. I was like everyone's little sister. I didn't mind it, though. Everyone was very supportive and expressed their disdain for not doing this when they were my age!

What was your experience like during the 12-week boot camp?

It was way harder than high school. Not only the style of teaching but the actual structure of the day. I had to take it upon myself to go ask questions or else I wouldn't learn, and that was challenging since I wasn't that kind of student in high school.

Mady was great. She was upfront and direct. You can tell that she wants everyone to learn and understand the material. She was always willing to help. Besides coding, she also exposed us to various professional development opportunities within the industry.

What are you doing now?

I am a Software Developer on the Smart PO (purchasing order) team at MedProcure, a software company in Easley. It's pretty cool. The app is very intricate. Smart PO is mostly composed of PHP and JavaScript which we didn't learn in code school. The first two or three weeks felt like an extension of code school in order to catch up and understand the language. It's been a good adjustment, though. I feel like I was prepared to learn these other, new languages.

My colleagues have been very nice and supportive. One of my colleagues, Zach Thigpen, also went to code school and is the product manager for Smart PO. It's pretty cool to work alongside other CCS alumni. I feel like we have an unspoken bond on the team. There are a few code school alumni between CCS and Iron Yard - it's really cool to know we come from similar teaching.

What was the job search process like?

David Quattlebaum, owner of MedProcure, came to Demo Day and liked my presentation. The next day I received an email from him, inviting me to meet at the office in Easley. We had some mutual connections, so it was just a great way to get to know each other and about their company. The day after we had our chat at the office, he sent me an offer. I knew it was the right path for me in the long run because I would get to use and further my new skills.

I still wake up and remember, "oh yeah, I really do have a full-time job!" The people are awesome and always show that they want to support me and help me learn.

What was the most valuable takeaway from your experience with CCS?

The growth mindset - learning that you can never know everything about coding, but there is also no ceiling to what you can learn or accomplish in the field. I'm just going to be able to keep learning and grow more and more.

How does it feel to be a part of the Greenville coding/CCS community?

It's really an honor. I am so thankful for everyone in the coding community. Everyone is supportive and continues to go out of their way to help me (or anyone) to understand, learn or make connections. It feels really good to be part of Carolina Code School alumni. I hope that one day I can be someone to help and support those new to coding like so many alumni and cohort members did for me.

What advice would you give other high schoolers that may be thinking about pursuing programming?

I would encourage them to dig into some coding stuff on their own. Once they do that, think about code school as an alternative and be confident in the decision to pursue it. If programming is something they want to do, it's a great investment.

Be prepared in knowing that it will not be a piece of cake. It will be hard, challenging, but worth it.