This story was written for WRAL TechWire Advisor partner Momentum Learning.
Discipline, problem-solving and teamwork — these characteristics are essential to someone serving in the military, but they’re also traits that will serve you well as a developer or software engineer.
United States Army veteran Crystal Ramirez employed these characteristics during her time as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division working as an automated logistical specialist, and is now using this skill set as a student at a coding school.
Ramirez served from 2000 until 2010, and then enrolled at North Carolina State University. After graduating with her bachelor’s in 2014, Ramirez realized that there was opportunity in tech.
“[Tech] allows you to be creative, it allows you to reach a large audience very quickly,” she explained. “There’s still the intellectual challenge of figuring out complex problems, and how to put it into something that’s understandable. So, all those different combinations is what really drove me to seek out a career path in IT.”
Ramirez got an internship with Code the Dream, a company whose focus is to teach minorities and immigrants coding skills. After her first taste of coding, Ramirez wanted more and enrolled at Momentum Learning.
“I researched a couple of different options and I really found Momentum to just be unique in how they go about teaching the material. When I met [the team], I felt like this was the place for me. I felt like their culture was really accepting, and they have a philosophy that they can teach anybody to code, and I agreed with that,” Ramirez said. “A lot of the camaraderie with the other students has been great. Because it’s such a high-pressure environment. Everybody sort of leans on each other and helps each other get through the material.”
Ramirez noted that veterans have been challenged in ways that most people “don’t ever have to go through” and explained why she believes veterans are good candidates for tech industry roles.
“We have to wear a lot of different hats and be able to take in information quickly, and apply that information to accomplish our goal. We’re very goal-oriented, we’re very organized in the way we go about things, and we’re methodical in a lot of ways. And I think that skillset is really difficult to teach somebody to do,” she said. “When you hire a veteran, you’re getting someone who is highly adaptable to their environment and who can adjust quickly.”
Many veterans are trained to withstand and even excel in high-pressure environments, so it’s no surprise that many of them are suited for the intensiveness of a coding program like the one Momentum offers.
Steve Patterson, a U.S. Navy veteran, had a non-traditional pathway to coding.
After years of job-hopping post military and a battle with addiction after his mother died left him with gaps in his resume, Patterson felt the need to invest in himself by enrolling in a coding school.
Steve Patterson, a U.S. Navy veteran, enrolled in a coding school after years of job-hopping post military. (Photo Courtesy of Momentum Learning)
Patterson’s previous work as an IT project manager at BB&T had already piqued his interest in tech, so when a friend mentioned Momentum, Patterson was all ears. Patterson had looked into computer programming college courses, but said Momentum was more cost-effective, and while more time-intensive from the jump — a shorter time commitment overall.
“It was less time. I was in a position where I was able to give it [my] full-time, 9-to-5, every day,” he said. “I really went into it cold from a programming perspective. I feel like I was intelligent in the IT space — I’ve got an analytical way of looking at things. So I picked up on it rather quickly, and I enjoyed it and still enjoy it. The first couple of weeks were hard, but then I kind of settled in and fit right in with the class.”
Patterson graduated from the program last fall and is in the process of applying for a full-time coding position.
People like Ramirez and Patterson are prime examples of the success that veterans can achieve through a coding education. It’s a platform that U.S. Army veteran David Molina champions.
U.S. Army veteran David Molina served multiple rounds of active duty, and now actively serves as an advocate for veterans who want to get into coding. (Photo Courtesy of David Molina)
After serving multiple rounds of active duty, Molina is now actively serving as an advocate for veterans who want to get into coding.
“My intent was always to learn enough coding and build apps for the web and even mobile apps,” said Molina, who started to take his self-taught coding hobby more seriously after coming off of his second tour of active duty. “I want to be a tech entrepreneur.”
Molina struggled to find a coding “in” but was relentless in his pursuit of learning more — attending conferences and hackathons, and teaching himself what he could, while also applying for scholarships.
Molina believes veterans are well-suited for tech roles because of their “unwavering work ethic, their discipline, leadership and their uncanny ability to just get it done.”
However, a persistent roadblock for many veterans, including Molina, was the red tape around the G.I. Bill.
“The G.I. Bill came after World War II and it was intended to be a benefit to veterans when they get off their military service. It provides housing benefits, education benefits to go to college, healthcare, [and] housing loans,” Molina explained. “The G.I. Bill really made America what it is today.”
However, Molina discovered when applying to coding schools that the G.I. Bill only covered the cost of an education at accredited colleges and universities. While designed as a protective measure to safeguard against both veterans and government funding being taken advantage of, Molina wasn’t the only veteran alone in his frustration at this discovery.
“The problem is that code schools fall in the category of non-accredited. Those schools automatically are not G.I. Bill approved, unlike colleges and universities that are public,” Molina explained.
After hearing other veterans lament about the hurdles they were trying to clear to enroll at code schools to become developers, Molina founded Operation Code. It is a non-profit that helps “the military community learn software development, enter the tech industry and code the future.”
According to Molina, there are more than 28 code schools that are G.I. Bill-approved across 18 states. Many of these were not approved even as little as three years ago. Molina continues to lobby for further accreditation.
He said that he’s spent his entire career “helping soldiers” and will continue to do so, just in a different way. Momentum is on the list of schools eager to receive G.I. approval once they reach the requirement of having operated for two-years.
For Patterson, coding and his Momentum education have given him a new sense of purpose.
“My time as a veteran helped me look at things from all angles. I think that’s what built the analytical side of me, so to really look at every challenge or every situation from every angle. You’ve really got to be open minded and look at it from every different angle and figure out the best way to tackle it,” Patterson said of his perspective. “There’s really nothing I could recommend any higher than Momentum.”
This story was written for WRAL TechWire Advisor partner Momentum Learning.
