From Necessity to Passion | Graduate Spotlight

As a musician and producer, Randall Thomas of Web Development Cohort 54 was working with complicated software for years out of necessity. “That necessity grew into a curiosity, and then a passion,” he recalls. “My love for finding out what makes things tick, abstract thinking, and connecting dots has brought me to software development where I can apply even more of my creative, technical, and analytical skills.” Randall was introduced to Nashville Software School (NSS) through his brother-in-law, and after taking a Web Development Jumpstart course for himself, Randall hasn’t looked back.

What was your favorite part of your NSS experience?

“The amount I actually learned. This learning style has proved to be the best (if not one of the only) way for me to really learn and understand a ton of information.”

What was your favorite capstone project and what about it made it your favorite?

“I liked my back-end project more because it was a better idea and I got to work the full stack. I enjoyed getting to use component libraries for this project (the last one I did mostly in pure Vanilla JavaScript). For the components, I used Material UI because from my research it is one of the most widely used libraries.

I also got to use ChartJS, and not only did I learn how to use it, but I wrote the chart components in TypeScript which was a great way to learn more about how to use it.

The idea for the app as a personal tracker for mood, psychology, productivity and sleep came from talking with new developers who were worried about the mental aspect of being a developer. My wife is also a licensed professional counselor so I am always hearing how people need more psychological support, so once the idea came to me, it was more like a revelation that my skills could start to be put to good use right this second.”

What advice would you give to current or incoming NSS Students?

“Take your time, take lots of notes, enjoy the process and commit to the program. The more you put in, the more you get out. And, as always, GET SOME REST”