Volunteer Stories: August

Class: Manchester

Volunteering since: September 2019

What do you love about CodeYourFuture?

I love how friendly and welcoming the community is. It is terrifying as a relatively new developer to put yourself in a room of experts, but nobody makes you feel less than and everybody is always willing to listen to you and help you out no matter what your level of experience. I also love the passion of the volunteers, many of whom give far more than they need to; working outside of the hours they usually would and always trying to improve the student experience.

What have you learnt/gained from CodeYourFuture?

I have been able to start sharpening my own skills by identifying gaps in my knowledge when interacting with students. I’ve also already gained so many opportunities to take on responsibility, take initiative, and expand my skill-set just by being a part of the team. Even when you assign yourself to a team, you end up wearing so many different hats that you get experience in all kinds of things.

What do you tell other people about CYF?

I am forever passing on great things I hear about through CYF to my colleagues. For example, we use Sololearn in our application process. I really like the app and suggested it to members of my work team. An apprentice on the team is really benefiting from using that app right now! Other than that, I talk a lot about how amazing the students are and what a humbling experience it is to teach them.

What would you like others to know about CodeYourFuture?

You will meet incredible people on the team and also meet amazing people in the cohort. Few other experiences will remind you of the tenacity of human beings than working with people who give 110% despite all the struggles they have gone through in life.

Tell us about a moment that has inspired you/made you feel proud

As a teacher, there is nothing better than just seeing the moment a concept makes sense to a student. It reminds you that what you are doing is actually making a huge difference to that person’s experience.