Jackelyn Llanas had doubts about the daunting task ahead of her. The 23-year-old Brownsville native had been selected for the first cohort to undergo an intense 12-week coding boot camp in Full Stack Web Development. “I thought I couldn’t do it. I was overwhelmed and scared,” said the UTRGV mechanical engineering student. “I thought about quitting but decided to stick this out.” By early August, 10 weeks into the program, Llanas was not only glad she stuck it out but saw boot camp as opening doors to her future.

The coding boot camp was created with a see-a-need, fill-a-need approach. The Mission Economic Development Corporation, Workforce Solutions and Code RGV worked together to provide the Full Stack computer training to prepare individuals for well-paying jobs in an ever-evolving field. When Olmo Maldonado, Code RGV president, met with the Mission EDC, the idea fit seamlessly with the EDC’s mission of creating more jobs and strengthening the local workforce. Students who complete the training are certified in Full Stack Web Development, an area of high demand in Texas.

“This feeds directly into what we do,” said Daniel Silva, Mission EDC’s chief operating officer. “As we are trying to recruit any company into the community, the skill set that they are looking for is not the same as it was 20 years ago. We need to offer them a community that has that current skill set, those who are forward thinking, self-starters and with the abilities to solve problems.”

The Texas Workforce Commission is funding the program through a $75,000 grant, matched by the Mission EDC. Ten students were selected from 425 applicants. Applicants were graded on answers they supplied when applying online. If they had computer experience or dabbled with coding or projects, they had a much better chance of making the cut.

“The demand was exceptionally high,” said Maldonado, who is the coding school’s director. “The ones selected range from 23 to 46 years old. Thirty percent of the applicants were female, and that’s three times the industry norm. It shows that there’s a huge demand to get high-demand work.”

The training was long and intense — five days a week for up to 12 hours a day. Llanas left for two to three hours a day to trek to her heat transfer class at UTRGV.  Students learned code and worked on projects individually and as a group. The students received a monthly stipend. Maldonado said it was necessary because he doubts anyone can keep a job and make it through the rigorous demands of boot camp.

“Students were working on weekends, working remotely, working together. It’s difficult but it’s meant to get you there fast, not to wait four years,” Maldonado said. “We don’t guarantee you’ll get a job in a week. You still will have to work for it.”

“Maldonado told us on the first day that coding would be our life, and we all laughed,” Llanas said. But it was true.  Even when eating, they continued coding. “I’ve learned so much, and there’s so much more to learn. I even dreamt about coding and talked to other students who have done the same thing.”

Divided into groups of three or four, the students were assigned a civic-minded project. Llanas’ group developed a safety app called “Checked In.” If, for example, someone is going for a run or walking back from school, they can set an alarm to alert a friend. If they do not “check in” on time, the alarm goes off. This alerts the friend that something suspicious may have happened.

“We thought first about children walking home from school and the elderly,” Llanas said. “But there are so many people and groups who would be able to use this.” The app is still being finalized.

During the final two weeks of the training, the students not only worked on a final project, but participated in mock interviews and learned how to pitch a startup business to possible investors.

“The end goal is that companies see that we are graduating these students and that these companies start looking to the RGV,” Silva said. “We are graduating people with the skill sets they need, so maybe that will entice them to locate here. Historically we are known to work well with our hands, but we are trying to get the world to know that we work well with our minds as well.”

For information on the boot camp, call the Mission EDC at 585-0040 or Code RGV at 230-6743. 

September 2016 feature story by Henry Miller