CELINA BASA

So, I wanted to share a bit about my journey with you.  I studied Chemical Engineering for my Master's degree while avoiding coding as much as possible because I held the assumption that it would be boring and difficult.  Luckily, if it wasn't for a happy accident with my final year dissertation project which meant I had to learn Python, I might have never discovered how much I enjoy coding.  

 

After that, I decided to switch career paths and enrolled in a software development boot camp without much prior experience.  The course was intense, but I completed it in just three months and landed my first full-time job as a software engineer at Cognizant.  At Cognizant, I worked with Java and Microservices and learned a lot of other technologies on the job.  I got promoted from my graduate role within the first year, and after two and a half years, I became pretty comfortable with the workflow.  However, I still felt like something was missing.  I enjoyed programming but wanted my work to contribute to something more meaningful that I felt passionate about.

 

While considering my next steps,  I stumbled upon a Games Development course by The Developer Academy and thought it would be a good chance to pick up some new technologies while keeping my existing skills sharp.  After getting accepted, I completed 16 weeks of project-based learning in C++ and Unreal Engine. 

 

Soon after, I was also selected as one of the Into Games 2024 winners in the Programming category.

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