Katherine Restko, Alumni of the Month, August 2019

Katherine Restko served in the U.S. Army for five years as a crypto linguist. She has a graduate degree in studio art, but after leaving the military, she decided to go down a different professional path. Katherine started searching for coding bootcamps to help her become a developer. Katherine was initially skeptical because of the reputation some bootcamps have as being content mills rather than genuine training centers. “I chose Code Platoon because it was a full-time program,” Katherine says. “Plus, they accept the G.I. Bill, and the reviews were great.”

At the start of the program, Katherine didn’t have a strong tech background. “I was artistic growing up,” Katherine explains. “I wasn’t driven to self-sufficiency.” All students complete pre-work before starting the program. Before starting with Code Platoon, Katherine decided to do extra work to boost her sense of preparation.

Within a week, she felt like she was drowning in material, but she was impressed at the attentiveness of the instructors. “They seemed genuinely concerned about the progress of students,” Katherine says. Her sense of stubbornness and camaraderie also helped to overcome difficult moments. “It didn’t take long to vent about the stress of the program and realize that you aren’t the only one. Even though the program was sometimes dizzying, I enjoyed the process of building things.”

Katherine completed the program in December 2018 as a member of Golf Platoon. She started working for Code Platoon as an assistant part-time instructor while continuing to hone her skills and applying for full-time opportunities. In March 2019, Katherine received a job offer conducting business analysis and project management support. She accepted it and took her next step as a developer.

“I’m finally doing something I wanted to do professionally,” Katherine says. “I enjoy it and want to do it career-wise. I’ve studied subjects before that I’ve enjoyed, but when it comes to application, other things can be a little boring. But I don’t have that problem when it comes to code. It’s something I love to learn about and enjoy doing every day.”

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“After graduation, Katherine joined Code Platoon as a teaching assistant, eager to give back to the next class of students. Katherine was an incredibly engaging teaching assistant for us. Her energy in the classroom helped create a warm and dynamic learning environment for our students. We are grateful to include her among Code Platoon’s alumni!”

-Rod Levy, Executive Director, Code Platoon