Code the Dream Junior Developer KJ Loving knows how meaningful good mentorship can be. As a CTD Learns student and a CTD Labs apprentice, Loving had help from volunteer mentors that was pivotal to launching their tech career.
One mentorship experience Loving had as a student was vital to their CTD experience, and informed their decision to start mentoring others.
“I could not get my setup working at all, and if I couldn’t get it working, I couldn’t run the needed stuff to run Ruby on my Windows computer,” Loving says. “I battled with it for days on my own and was at the end of my rope. I almost quit coding completely, but my mentor, Bailey, helped me. He spent long hours on Zoom and Slack trying to help me get it working on my computer, and after a couple of days we finally got it working. I wouldn’t have been able to be a developer without that moment of mentorship.”
CTD’s Volunteer Mentors are crucial
The professionals who volunteer mentor for Code the Dream are crucial to our mission in multiple ways. They guide students through important practicum projects, mentor weekly group sessions for students who want further discussion of the concepts they are learning, and they provide one-on-one mentorship to dig deep into hands-on problem solving.
As a student, Loving knew what kind of environment they needed to learn, a certainty that feeds into their ongoing commitment to mentoring others.
“When people are given space to experiment, ask questions, and make mistakes without judgment, learning becomes deeper and more sustainable for everyone involved,” Loving says.
CTD’s commitment to creating those conditions for students is a big part of why Loving flourished as a student and apprentice before becoming a Junior Developer. Now, in addition to the projects they are working on at CTD, volunteer mentorship has become an important role in their life.
“I mentored the last Ruby on Rails cohort that CTD had and I’ve been actively mentoring apprentices on team Upstate,” Loving says. “I recently got back from a Ruby conference and I am getting more involved in mentoring and speaking in that community.”
One of Loving’s first mentorship experiences with CTD was as a co-mentor with Nicholas Degrate, where the pair worked to walk students through core SQL concepts and how they connect to real-world development work.
The technical expertise that the co-mentors had to offer was obviously key to a successful session. But Loving says that there was more to making it work.
“This session was rooted in the idea that learning is lifelong and works best in a safe, supportive environment.”
CTD mentors benefit along with our students
The lifelong nature of learning is important to Loving, whose experience as a volunteer mentor benefits them along with the students, they said.
“Mentorship at Code the Dream isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about showing up and investing in people,” Loving says. “Mentors grow alongside their students: through the questions students ask, from explaining concepts in new ways, and from being reminded what it feels like to be learning something for the first time.”
Loving’s advice for anyone thinking about volunteering with CTD: “Volunteering can feel intimidating, especially if teaching or public speaking is new to you, but it’s an awesome way to grow while helping others do the same. Access to supportive, high-quality mentorship can change the trajectory of someone’s career.”
Learn more about volunteering at codethedream.org/volunteer.
