From Art Degree to Software Engineering Role at Microsoft

Becca: Life has changed in so many positive ways since going to Sabio. I have all of these opportunities now. My salary has increased by 50%, if not more. Honestly, My name is Becca and I'm from Washington State originally. I'm originally an artist. I went to design school in Pasadena, California, and was just making art, trying to do commissioned work. I was also working at a restaurant and then the pandemic hit. A friend of mine was tired of what she was doing with her work currently, and she was going to do Savio. I was interested. Not only was my friend looking at Savio, but her girlfriend actually was a Sabio graduate. She had graduated, I want to say, five years before us, and she had really awesome things to say, and she's very successful now. She just was really encouraging us to do this, and she really enjoyed her experience. And Savio's like, Okay, well, I might as well give it a try, here we go!

Q: Did you utilize any of Sabio’s financial aid?

Becca: I was very lucky to get the women in tech scholarship, and I also was able to do their payment program. The deferred payment program is basically a way for you to do the bootcamp, and you don't have to pay anything upfront and you pay after you actually get a job in the field. That was really helpful as well and really helped me make that decision because I knew I wasn't going to have to start paying back that debt until I actually thought about my job.I was really fortunate to be able to go that route and for them to approve me for that.

Q: What was it like learning to code from scratch?

Becca: Going into the PreWork stuff, it was like, Oh, this is game time. I remember thinking that it was really me doing my own CSI stuff especially. I was like, This is where I decide if I actually like what this is. While it was definitely a lot to take in. It was really interesting and it was the beginning of this whole new adventure I've been on.

Q: What was your personal experience at Sabio like?

Becca: I did the full time program. Monday through Friday was 12 hours a day, and so it was a hefty commitment. That being said, I really was incredibly grateful and that was the track that I chose doing the full time program while it was more intense. I was able to cut out outside and things that would maybe distract me from what I was learning and I was really able to just completely focus on this. I learned so much about myself. I learned a lot about technology and coding and programming, but also how to have a career in this profession, how to communicate with people and how to do job searches and how to advocate for yourself in that way.

Q: What was it like attending Sabio remotely?

Becca: Doing the full time remote program was really awesome. I really enjoyed being able to roll out of bed and start the day and immediately get to focus on the stuff that we were learning in the classroom, eventually working on our project. And it was really nice to be able to go out and go for walks around in my neighborhood, and I needed to take a five or ten minute break.

Q: What was your cohort like?

Becca: My cohort was great. I really liked the people that I was working with. I got to meet all of these super intelligent, super nice people from all over the country. We're going through this really unique experience together, and so we really wanted it when we graduated. It was really sad to say goodbye to these two friends that we've made in some short amount of time.

Q: What were your instructors like?

Becca: The instructors were great, incredibly helpful. They really pushed you to not only ask questions to them, but to ask questions within yourself and to learn how to go out of your way to try new things, even though it's scary. They really gave us the encouragement and the confidence to experiment with things. I was especially nervous about a lot of stuff. I was afraid I was going to break stuff. They were really supportive. It was very clear to me that they wanted you to succeed, that they were putting that foundation in you, that confidence in you to go out and get a job after it. I guess it is really difficult to do. So it was nice to have their support.

Q: What job do you have now?

Becca: My job currently right now is as an apprentice software engineer for Microsoft. At the end of the program, depending on how well you perform throughout it, they'll either invite you to an interview to do something like an interview loop or not. I actually just recently found out that I'm going to be interviewing. That was really exciting. It's been like the most amazing experience and it's going to be really great on my resume. I've learned so much. I wouldn't have gotten here if it wasn't for Sabio.. I’m really excited to be at this point now in this program.

Q: How did Sabio help you get a job?

Becca: At the end of the day, when all the instructors have gone, you typically would sign up to people in your cohort. We'll talk about a subject but we had to learn to teach them about it and just talk. And I found that that was really helpful for me, just being able to speak out loud to technology. That really prepared me for the interview process and for the technical interviews that I had to do. It really taught us how to adequately ask questions, which was something that I found really helpful when starting this apprenticeship program, because I'm very entry level and I'm working with a team that's much more advanced than I am.

Q: Where do you hope to continue to take your career?

Becca: I've definitely been able to integrate my art with my coding.I recently have been working with this DnD improv group who do lots of streaming videos. I’ve been like working on their like logos and design. That to me is the coolest experience. I think out of it all is how I can incorporate my art now with this new technology.

Q: How did going to Sabio change your life?

Becca: Oh my gosh. So my life has changed in so many positive ways since going to Sabio because of this new knowledge base that I have. All of these doors have opened. Being able to do this Microsoft apprenticeship has honestly been a dream come true. Before, I was really hustling and struggling without a lot of outcomes. Now that I am hustling and making stuff work, I'm getting some outcomes. Some things are really coming to fruition for me, which is really exciting. My salary has definitely increased especially for the position that I'm in right now. It's been a 50% increase, if not more. Honestly, I now have this whole other skill set in my set of tools. I'm really grateful to be where I am now, and I'm really excited for the future. There's a lot of change happening for me right now, and I'm beyond grateful for it. I have nothing but thanks and gratitude to Sabio for bringing me to this point in my career, but also in my life too.