Ryan Hamblin

Review of Hack Reactor

Before MKS I was very unhappy with my front-end de...

Before MKS I was very unhappy with my front-end developer job. I wanted to learn more, and being funneled into a Wodrpess environment with no way or direction out was killing me. I applied and was rejected on my first attempt to get in (this was after 9 months or so of learning and having attended another JavaScript based bootcamp). The second attempt I was finally allowed entrance to their program. I'm so glad that MKS vets their students this way, it made for some really solid students in my cohort.

I was stressed out the first 3 weeks of the program (as most people are) and felt as though I was an imposter on many many occasions. Then, we had a week break for Thanksgiving 2015 during which I put some of my skills to use and did some self study to review some of the material that I had suffered through during the previous 3 weeks. After the break, I all of the sudden had a few 'ah ha' moments! I was more confident in my ability to come up with solutions to the toy problems, and I started really understanding the material presented. Then one day, during the project phase, I woke up and thought to myself, "I am a software engineer". And it was true.

I was able to get a job after one week of completion of the program at a company in Utah. The company was so impressed with what I had learned in such a short period of time, that they made me the lead of the front end team. I couldn't believe it, and still cant until this day. Someone now pays me to play with code all day. It's un believable. I would say I wasn't even in the top third of my class (all varying backgrounds before MKS) and I have had enormous success post graduation. All thanks to MKS and their amazing system.

If you're contimplating applying, just do it. Apply. Today. You'll learn something from the interview process and your motivation to become a software engineer will skyrocket. Know that, you will be discouraged, frustrated, and feel like you don't belong throughout the process. But after you get in and start learning, you'll understand quickly that you had just made the best decision of your life!

Cheers!

-ryan