From Communications to Code with Christy Kusuma, Full Stack Web Developer Intern at YouVisit
By Fiona Whittington Photos by Bridget Scott
Christy Kusuma is living the dream for aspiring developers from unconventional backgrounds. As a recent graduate of Boston University’s College of Communications, Christy has proved that with determination, hard work, and perseverance, anyone can become a developer.
What motivated her to switch from writing articles to writing code? Christy’s entrepreneurial spirit.
“I realized I had all these ideas, but I couldn’t make any of them,” she said. “So I made a career pivot and joined a Bootcamp because I couldn’t wait for anybody else to help me do this. After college, I was coding 24/7. That would be the first thing I woke up to and the last thing I fell asleep to.”
The career switch came at a steep cost of $10,000 to attend a coding Bootcamp, which she says was still not enough to learn the skills necessary to get a job or internship.
“You need to know about algorithms and problem-solving skills that they don’t teach you,” she recalled. “I had to consistently be making projects and staying up late watching a lot of videos.”
Outside of the classroom, Christy used resources like Udemy and Treehouse to practice and learn new skills.
“Treehouse is a great tool for learning new languages because you can watch videos and get tested afterward.” Once you get more advanced, she suggests using Udemy, so you can develop your skills through building projects.
As a beginner coder in a new city trying to make it big as a developer, Christy remembers feeling lonely and discouraged. To keep her spirits high and create a network of support, she cited hackathons like SheHacks as the perfect way to make friends.
Currently, Christy is working as a Full Stack Web Developer Intern for YouVisit, a VR company that creates real-world 360° content.
“Every day I’m working on a different project, in a new situation, fixing and solving problems with code,” she said. “The other day I was working with PHP, SQL, AWS, SASS, and some Javascript too. Before that, I had to use React Redux, so it’s always different.”
In her job, Christy likes to use the following tools:
- VS Code — “Better Version of Sublime”
- Source Tree — “GitHub for Bitbucket”
- Terminal, so she can enjoy some HomeBrew with her cold brew
- Jira — A task management tool
- Chrome + an abundant number of excessive extensions (We both share a love for Catify and CSS Peeper)
On the weekends, Christy tries to achieve work-life balance by taking a break from coding to spend time with her friends. On Sundays you can either find her at home really tired, exploring New York, or working on her dream venture.
“I love coding, but I think it’s kind of like a stepping stone. Someday, I want to work on my own idea or have my own company.”
