Lauren Richert worked in higher education administration as a college registrar. She loved being in a learning environment and working with data and reporting. When the college she worked for merged with another school, she began to explore her options. She heard about Nashville Software School (NSS) and attended an info session. Afterward, she decided that learning more technology would be helpful, as education is becoming more technology driven and it could help advance her career in higher education.

Lauren loved how much she was able to learn and accomplish in just six months at NSS. She also formed a strong bond with her classmates. She shared, “I learned more than I ever have in such a short period of time. And my cohort was a truly special group of people who displayed an enormous level of compassion for each other from beginning to end.”

I’ve never before been a part of such a cohesive group in any environment, especially a learning environment.

The learning didn’t always come quickly. “This program was the easily the most challenging thing I've ever done,” she said. “I didn't learn as much as I wanted to or as easily as I wanted to, but I left with a good foundation on which I can continue to build.” She advised current students to remember that you are always learning, even when it feels like you’re stuck.

It's not supposed to be easy; in fact, everyone will tell you it's incredibly hard. So just expect that and don't give up on yourself. Lean on your friends who are going through this with you and on the incredible instructors who will always encourage you when you need it.

Her front-end capstone is a drink recipe organizer for home bartenders. Lauren enjoys mixing drinks at home and would screenshot her favorite recipes on her phone, but could never find the one she wanted when she was ready to make a drink. MixIt allows the user to enter and save their drink recipes so they can easily find them again later. She built it with React, CSS/Bootstrap, and JSON server.

Lauren’s back-end capstone is a full stack C#/.NET MVC application. She used both Entity and Identity, CSS/Bootstrap, and SQL server. City Cache, is built for visitors in Chicago to find the hidden spots that only locals know. It encourages users to venture out of downtown and into the neighborhoods. As a former Chicago resident, Lauren built the app to help her friends explore the neighborhoods even though she’s no longer there to show them around. She deployed the app with Azure.

As Lauren searches for her first junior developer job, she is continuing to network with new people and build relationships with those she met through NSS. She is also maintaining her capstone applications and continuing her learning with online tutorials.

To learn more about Lauren, visit her website.

Check out all of the recent grads on Cohort 26's class website.

Hear the graduates talk to our friend, Clark Buckner, about their journey into development and their experience at NSS.