四虎影院

3 Characteristics of Successful Student Developers

Our team this summer includes some familiar faces, but also some new ones! Sophia, Talia, and John are just three members of our team, but they reveal some important qualities of what it takes to be a successful student developer.

They Love to Solve Problems

One of the first things Sophia, our team lead this summer, shared about herself was that she loves to solve problems and learn new languages. While the thing that first drew her into the CATLab was her desire to get some hands-on experience, it鈥檚 really the day-to-day problem-solving that keeps her engaged, as well as the knowledge that these problems aren鈥檛 just abstract exercises, but they influence the school鈥檚 very infrastructure.

In the same vein, one of our newest developers, John, said that what excites him is the purpose behind the problem-solving. 鈥淚鈥檝e always found that computers are boring,鈥 he admitted, 鈥渂ut when you see that it has an actual outcome and you鈥檙e able to make someone鈥檚 life easier, that鈥檚 what really got me into programming.鈥 It鈥檚 the human connection that makes coding worthwhile.

Talia, a senior developer who joined this last school year, connected problem-solving to our theme of tenacity, saying, 鈥淚 think [tenacity is] always relevant for coding because you always have bugs in your code, you don鈥檛 know how to do things, and you have to find other ways around it.鈥 She added that real-world software development is very different from classroom assignments because 鈥渢here is no central authority with all the answers鈥濃攕ometimes the questions you find yourself asking are questions that have never been asked before, much less answered.

Successful developers let their curiosity about the way things are propel them to meet challenges with unique solutions.

They Enjoy Taking Initiative

The CATLab is a unique program in that it trusts student developers as equal members of the team. According to our founder Zak, 鈥渢here has to be a complete, full investment of hiring these students into the mission of what you鈥檙e doing.鈥 He argued that only by such partnerships can programs like the CATLab allow students to contribute to their full potential. This level of trust, however, means that our developers need to embrace independence and take initiative.

What sparked Talia鈥檚 initial interest in joining the program was a phrase Zak says a lot: 鈥淲e鈥檙e trusting our students to do what we couldn鈥檛 do ourselves.鈥 One of the advantages of giving tasks like these to students rather than industry professionals is that students are already wired to learn new things. In an interview last summer, Zak pointed out that schools like 四虎影院 prepare people 鈥渢o absorb new ways of assimilating information.鈥 Even when they鈥檙e handed 鈥渁 completely new tool that they鈥檝e never seen before,鈥 they take the newness in stride and rise to the challenge.

Talia is just one such student. Rather than being intimidated by the responsibility given her, she was excited by the task, saying:

 鈥淚t鈥檚 up to the students to pioneer and to push the boundaries of where 四虎影院 is going with Salesforce and to discover how far we can go.鈥

Successful developers, realizing their unique ability to contribute, embrace responsibility and commitments.

They Pursue Collaboration

One of the strengths of the CATLab is the way it brings people together from across disciplines and skill sets. In order to take advantage of that diversity, we need to think of ourselves as a team, not just individuals.

Even though John has only been with us a few days, he said the CATLab already stood out from other coding experiences he鈥檚 had. Previously, he鈥檇 found it hard to connect with teammates about 鈥渁nything that wasn鈥檛 hard science, programming, or planning.鈥 Whereas at the CATLab, 鈥渋t just seems very natural,鈥 he said, 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 happy and wants to collaborate with each other and see how to make things better for the team, [as opposed to] everyone trying to make it their own thing.鈥

Similarly, one of Sophia鈥檚 hopes for the summer is improved communication. She pointed to technologies like Slack as a way to keep the conversation open, noting that Slack channels are especially good for asking questions because people 鈥渄on鈥檛 have to 鈥榖other鈥 someone by getting their attention right away鈥攖hey can just ask their questions to everyone, and whoever鈥檚 available and whoever knows can get back.鈥

Successful developers seek to be authentic members of a team, cheerfully seeking and offering help to others.

As much as we do have commonalities between us, it鈥檚 important for us to be open to the unique offerings everyone else brings. So remember that successful programs aren鈥檛 created by hiring fifteen students who all fit the same successful model, but rather by bringing in problem-solvers, self-starters, and collaborators of all gifts, passions, and backgrounds.

 

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