Fulfilling a childhood dream: how Beyza learned to code

Beyza grew up in a small city in Türkiye called Kırklareli. Growing up, she always knew that her opportunities would be limited compared to young people living in big cities like Istanbul or Ankara. Many rural residents in Türkiye, like Beyza, experience persistent employment challenges due to focused development in megacities.

When Beyza looked for career inspiration growing up, she mostly received advice from those unhappy with their career choices.

Yet despite it all, Beyza always had dreamt that she might one day learn how to code— a non-traditional career her parents would have never approved of because they saw tech jobs as financially unstable compared to established professions.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to code. It looked cool and was interesting to give functions to anything with some text.

Sidetrack career

Beyza initially studied to become a nurse. But when she thought about herself at 40 years old, she was afraid of the possibility that she would regret not even trying to make her childhood dream come true.

So while continuing her nursing degree, she also enrolled in another university's department called Web-Based Coding and Design. But the course needed to give her more practical information about pursuing a career in tech.

Like many Re:Coded students, her initial barrier to getting started was the overwhelm of finding out where to start. Then, she came across an ad for Re:Coded's Frontend Bootcamp.

No engineering degree? No problem.

The Re:Coded bootcamp acceptance rate is notoriously low, around 10%. So, Beyza kept her expectations low too. Even so, she prepared a stellar application: spending time filling out all of the questions in depth and doing some prep work on the side researching Re:Coded as an organization.

Her biggest concern was that she might not get accepted with no coding experience or software engineering degree.

But Re:Coded Admissions looks not at your experience or degrees but your capacity to learn and your commitment to code: both of which Beyza had.

She was accepted last year into Re:Coded's Frontend Bootcamp.

A small price for a dream

Beyza's family wasn't supportive of her journey into tech.

"It goes too far to make my childhood dream real because it's like a luxury to do what you want in your life when you live in a middle-class environment. " Beyza explains.

"Because in society, they give you roles to do without asking your opinion or questioning your talent, and as a result, you eventually regret your path." Beyza reflects, thinking about her family's pressure on her to stay in nursing simply because it's financial security.

But Beyza was determined to succeed, even if it would mean a few struggles along the way.

"I was always having anxiety attacks at the beginning of the bootcamp because I felt like I wasn't good enough or like I didn't belong here.  But after that, I was focused on being a better version of myself every day. I was so dedicated to solving this issue, and after a while, anxiety attacks disappeared."

For many Re:Coded students, the learning environment can feel high-pressure and stressful. This is why they're equipped with the concept of a growth mindset; the idea that growth is a result of learning, strategizing, and concerted effort. It goes hand-in-hand with the lesson that life-long learners constantly position themselves outside of their "comfort zone" to grow.

"In the end, it made me a completely solution-oriented person," Beyza shares, "I enjoy everything right now. Even the success and even the failure. I use all of my efforts to learn from every experience without focusing on whether it is good or bad. That's the mentality that I own."

Building a career

Beyza is still building her career. She's faced barriers to finding her first job, but isn't giving up. Instead, she's applying her growth mindset to her primary challenge: experience. Many junior developer jobs still require some experience.

"I found a solution to that," Beyza says, "And now, I am doing freelance UI UX. And at the same time, I'm applying for jobs."

Instead of waiting for companies to hire her as a junior to gain experience, she's building her own experience.

"I'm trying to use all of my potential right now. I'm spending all my effort and time to be a better version of myself than yesterday's Beyza and it created a safe environment for me to improve. Being a better designer, being a better developer, and especially a better communicator than yesterday became my goal for my career."

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