Launch School Podcast

In this episode, Brandi interviews Katelyn, a current student finding her footing in the first few courses of the core curriculum. Katelyn is in a career transition, with a background in project and construction management, having majored in civil engineering in college.

We reached out to Katelyn to see if she wanted to share her story after she wrote and shared an article about her experience receiving a 'Not Yet' on an assessment. Every student has a different approach when they don't pass an assessment, but most approaches don't involve telling everyone in the community how and why it happened, in hopes of helping others. We wanted to hear from her!

They discuss her 'Not Yet' and what changes she made to her study habits. Katelyn also discusses her approach to having an online presence, and how she's taken as many opportunities as possible to work on her soft skills in conjunction with the technical skills she's learning from the coursework.

This is a great episode for gaining insight into what you can expect from your first few courses at Launch School, and the learning curve that many students face as they find their footing.

In this episode, Chris interviews Alex Strick van Linschoten, a Capstone grad working in machine learning. They spend the first part of the interview discussing his background and Capstone experience, and later on discuss the field of machine learning.

Alex had a full career before he transitioned into machine learning. He has a PhD in history and spent over 15 years doing research in Afghanistan. When he was ready for a change, he found Launch School and spent over three years going through core and Capstone. He shares his experience participating in Capstone from Pakistan, where he had a nocturnal schedule to work with his team. He also gives perspective on doing a job hunt in Europe.

For much of the interview, they discuss the state of the machine learning field. Alex is working as an ML Engineer at ZenML, on an open-source code base. They touch on what it's like working in a relatively new field and how Alex has incorporated into his team.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In this episode, recorded at the end of 2023, Brandi asks Chris the most frequently asked questions that current and potential students have.

Chris starts the episode with a recap of the story of Launch School, and how his journey into teaching software over 10 years ago led to the Launch School curriculum as we know it now. This story explains how the curriculum is chosen and why adding assessments was a necessary step in the evolution of his teaching platform.

The story of Launch School gives a lot of insight into why things are the way they are now, but there were still questions to be answered. Chris spends the last hour of the episode answering questions that we see again and again, whether it's from current students, potential students, or those who've chosen a different path for their education journey.

This episode highlights how intentional every piece of Launch School is. It's an educational system built with an engineering mindset. We hope you come away with a better understanding of Launch School, and as always, we're happy to answer your questions or hear your ideas.

1:19 - The History of Launch School

In this episode, Chris interviews Julia Martin, a Capstone graduate and software engineer working at Databricks. Julia shares her story about deciding to make a career transition from business to software. Her interest in software was piqued during her work as a business analyst, where working with SQL was part of her role. She spent some time considering various bootcamps before finding Launch School, and ended up quitting her job to study full-time.

Now, she's working on the Delta Live Tables team at Databricks in a hybrid, but mostly in-person role. She talks about the connection she can see in hindsight from the early grind of the core curriculum, through her efforts in Capstone, to where she is now as a professional engineer working on a team. She has great advice for current students who feel unsure of their abilities.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Brandi interviews Trisha, a current student who is about two-thirds finished with the core curriculum.

Trisha opens up about receiving a 'Not Yet', a non-passing grade, on her first assessment over a year ago. She talks about the aftermath of doubt and insecurity. Trisha's trajectory changed drastically when she immersed herself into the community, finding a supportive group of peers to help her stay motivated, push her technically, and gauge her readiness for assessments.

This is a positive first-hand account of how your study habits can make or break your success at Launch School.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Chris interviews Captsone Graduate Jon Kulton, a software engineer at Datadog. Before Launch School, Jon was a UX designer in a role that included some programming. Ultimately, Jon decided he wanted to transition into a more software-centric role.

Jon was part of the 2019 fall cohort and began his job hunt at the start of Covid. Between being based in Ohio and the challenges that came with Covid, Jon had a tough job hunt. He shares insight into the experience of landing his first role during this time. After almost two years, Jon moved on to Datadog, where he works alongside ex-FAANG engineers.

The conversation also touches on his day-to-day at work, the technical details of working as a site reliability engineer, and the experience of joining a public company where the customer base is fellow software engineers.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In this episode, Chris meets with JD and Daniel, two SPOT Admins and current students. They chat about what the SPOT is, who it's for, and how it can complement your Launch School studies, both technically, but also as a jumping-off point for joining the community.

The SPOT, which stands for Study, Practice, Overlearn, Teach, is a student-led community within Launch School that facilitates virtual study sessions for every course in the Core Curriculum. They discuss the deterrents that often stop students from utilizing the space, such as being unaware that it exists, feeling inadequate to participate, or being intimidated by stepping into an existing community. In addition to encouraging students to attend SPOT sessions, they discuss what it means to be a 'SPOT Lead', and how it can push you even further as a student and leader.

They also discuss and show off GatherTown, the virtual study space where you can quite literally 'bump into' your peers. As a virtual school, it takes effort to deisolate your studies. GatherTown is a great place to go, whether you're joining a study group, meeting with a peer, or hanging out near others as accountability buddies.

Have a listen, and we hope to see you in GatherTown!

In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Benjamin Walker, a current student, nearing the end of the back-end portion of the curriculum. They discuss Benjamin's approach to balancing full-time parenthood and his journey as a neurodivergent student.

Benjamin was a high school math teacher for 12 years. After becoming a father, he decided he was ready for a career change. He talks about how he decided to study at Launch School and the considerations this involved, given his prioritization of parenthood. Later on, he talks about what it's like to have ADHD and the strategies he employs to be a successful student. Benjamin juggles a busy life and gives great insight into the sacrifices and hurdles many students face on their journey to mastery.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In this episode, Chris interviews Ginni Pinckert, a software engineer at Sudowrite. Ginni is a recent capstone graduate, finishing in early 2023. She has a diverse background pre-Launch School, having studied classical languages, literature, and linguistics with a mild obsession with Greek mythology and Sci-Fi. She worked in the fashion industry for several years and then worked as a small business owner creating organization systems to help clients with productivity.

Her Launch School journey was a relatively long one, spending about 2 years working through the core curriculum as a mostly full-time student, with some of her time dedicated to being a TA. After Capstone, it's no surprise that Ginni ended up with a company just as passionate about writing as she is, now working on a small team developing a text editing interface that integrates AI to help writers write. Ginni gives great insight into what it's like to apply for jobs as someone without any prior experience in tech as well as a refreshing perspective on the tough job market. As someone used to donning many hats, it's clear that Ginni is open to new experiences and putting in the work it takes to do a job well, and her time through Launch School, Capstone, and now her new career, are no exceptions.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

A quick introduction to this season with a peek at what's to come.