When students sign up for a HyperionDev bootcamp, they’re assigned a personal mentor to help them overcome any hurdle. Many of our mentors are previous HyperionDev graduates themselves, meaning they have a thorough understanding of the courses and are perfectly positioned to help students navigate the obstacles along the way.
Our mentors help students with a variety of tasks via live chat, email, online tutorials, and one-on-one video calls. One of their most important responsibilities is reviewing students’ code using our world-class code review process, and providing comprehensive feedback to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
Here are three of our current mentors – Moipati, Dana, and Gwinyai – and their stories of going from HyperionDev graduates to coding mentors.
Moipati Thoobe – From University Student to Software Engineer
HyperionDev coding mentor Moipati graduated with a degree in Information Science and, rather than join the workforce, decided she wanted to expand her skillset by improving her programming. So, right after graduating, she signed up for the immersive Full Stack Web and Software Engineer Bootcamp.
Taking an immersive bootcamp was an excellent choice as it focuses heavily on practical skills development. It’s an in-depth, advanced coding course that prepares students for careers as multi-role developers and is regarded as a powerful alternative to traditional computer science degrees.
Moipati particularly loved the code review process at bootcamp and was surprised to learn how comprehensive it was. She also immersed herself in the capstone projects, and although she found them challenging, they enabled her to walk away with a portfolio of real-world work to show employers. She has also since created a social media app using the MERN stack.
She credits the HyperionDev support team and mentorship she received for helping her stay on track and meet deadlines as tasks became more complicated. As a mentor herself now, she is excited to teach students how to build web applications and be part of their coding journeys. Her typical day at work involves code reviews, helping students master complicated tasks, and handling Discord queries as they come up. On learning to code, she says:
“The best advice I received is that ‘Google is a developer’s best friend’. But I also learned not to be overly reliant on the internet and that the best way to learn is to try things for myself. I am excited to share this with my mentees.”
Follow Moipati’s exciting career in tech on her Github portfolio.
Dana Du Preez van Wyk – From Self-employed to Data Scientist
Dana from Somerset West spent a decade in different industries, including fibre and construction, but he never found his work fulfilling. One day he decided it was high time he did what he truly wanted to do – work in tech. He packed his bags, moved to the US, and, while living and working in Mississippi, completed the HyperionDev Data Science Bootcamp online full-time.
On his return to SA, he worked as a self-employed foreign exchange specialist, but because he couldn’t use his bootcamp coding skills in that role, he was more than happy to make the switch and join HyperionDev as a mentor.
During his bootcamp, he worked with HyperionDev mentors who taught him that there are dozens of ways to solve a problem. This encouraged him to “stick with it” even when it seemed there was no solution. That, and mastering machine learning – notoriously one of our bootcamps’ most demanding courses – has given Dana the confidence to take on more challenging tasks.
He’s a particular fan of Python, which he regards as a fundamental building block that opens up a world of coding possibilities. He admits he’s somewhat addicted to learning new coding languages and has his sights on the HyperionDev software development course next.
The best part of working in a coding community? Dana says:
“I used to work with people who hated what they were doing. Unmotivated people, people who would rather be doing anything else. I was one of them, I needed change, and this bootcamp offered me the opportunity to do that.”
Gwinyai Chakonda – From Chemical Engineer to Full Stack Developer
Capetonian Gwinyai Chakonda studied full stack web development full-time at the Cape Town campus. A former chemical engineer who had lost all curiosity and excitement for his field, he was motivated to study coding by the desire to earn a better salary and work in an in-demand industry.
Today he works as a HyperionDev mentor, where one of his favourite jobs is reviewing student code and working in MERN stack. He says the coolest part of being a coding mentor is learning ORK – short for “objectives and key results”, a popular goal-setting framework used by companies to facilitate growth and improvement.
What Gwinyai loved most about bootcamp was talking to lecturers and colleagues onsite, competing on the leaderboard, and getting a perfect score in a code review. That, and working with the MERN stack efficiently enough to build and deploy a full-stack web application.
As a mentor, Gwinyai is involved with student support and code reviews. He credits these interactions for giving him confidence in his ability to learn new things, set goals and, through perseverance, achieve them. He is currently the sole developer on the Blackdiasporas.com project and hopes to one day own his own software development company and invest in startups. We can’t see anything stopping him.
The best thing about being a coding mentor? Gwinyai says:
“Supporting students is remarkably satisfying and enhances your own understanding. I would encourage all HyperionDev graduates to consider becoming mentors.”
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If you’re inspired by their stories and feel ready to embark on your own journey toward a fulfilling career in the tech industry, consider registering with HyperionDev here.
Who knows, your success story may be next.
