A Transplant's Tech Community Impact
Published: 2024-03-06 23:40:41

A California transplant discovers purpose and community in the heart of the Ozarks.



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German Cruz’s journey began in the bustling city of Bakersfield, California, in an (almost certainly chaotic) household with nine siblings. Like many kids, his middle school days were less about academic success and more about the next opportunity to hit the basketball court with friends. However, a turning point came when his older brother noticed German's disinterest in school. His brother saw a leadership quality in German and intervened, guiding him to focus on his academic path and future. He encouraged German to enroll in advanced and college-preparatory classes throughout high school while German maintained his extracurricular success.

With the unwavering support of his high school counselor and brother, German thrived academically. By the time graduation approached, he had the pick of schools. He struggled to choose between big-name and Ivy League Universities. Yet, the looming tuition led him to a pragmatic decision. German chose to pursue higher education locally, enrolling in a four-year university program.

College life, however, presented its own set of challenges. General education classes failed to spark his interest, and his initial dip into programming was tougher than anticipated. In his first programming course, German struggled to put it all together. Instead of toughing the class out and hoping for the best, German took initiative and took a strategic step back. He decided to start at the beginning of the book that the course was flying through. He focused on the fundamentals at the beginning, and took time to solidify the concepts before moving on. By the end of the class, he was soaring above the rest. His love of programming had been solidified. Despite this victory, German's college journey was interrupted by personal challenges, including his mother's diagnosis with cancer. Noticing the tech industry’s growing acceptance of non-traditional education, German decided to lean into the idea that a University maybe wasn’t required.

This brings German to the year 2020. As COVID ran through California, job opportunities dwindled. An invitation from a friend to relocate to Arkansas presented German with new opportunities and a renewed excitement for the future. In Arkansas, German continued sharpening his development skills and eventually completed an online program. 

The job hunt that followed was tough, but persistence led him to an instructor position with Codefi. The only problem was that it was located in Kentucky. Meaning a move to a new state with no social support. Despite his initial nerves about moving and adapting to a new industry, German excelled, eventually relocating to Springfield to join Codefi's office in the e-factory.

In Springfield, German became an integral part of the Code Labs program, which aims to provide tech education and practical training to students from diverse backgrounds. German draws on his own personal struggles with the traditional education path to support students in his courses. His commitment to fostering the tech community has led him to the SGFDevs group. But not only participating, but leading. He’s recently been inducted to the SGFDevs Board of Directors! 

Springfield has not only been a nurturing ground for German's career but has also offered him a platform to give back and uplift others. Looking ahead, German is brimming with project ideas and hopes to eventually write a book! The SGFDevs community will be watching in anticipation as German finds more and more success in his career! 

If you're curious to hear more abut German's career with Codefi, read on below for his experience in his own words!

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With Codefi, I get to work with highly skilled individuals who are passionate about their work and are always looking for ways to improve. I am excited to be a part of a team that is dedicated to making a difference in Southern Missouri and the tech industry.


As a software developer and a code coach at Codefi, I get to have the opportunity to make such a big impact in the community.


I started out as a code coach for Codefi and let me tell you, it's definitely been a fun ride! When I agreed to become a code coach for Codefi I started to think, "How can I be a great teacher?" I was actually told that I had the potential to be a good teacher from other teachers at a younger age.


It's funny because, very early on, before teaching participants of the Code Labs program, I had decided to watch a movie called "Stand and Deliver" which I had already watched earlier in my teenage years. It's a movie about a teacher who teaches calculus to a group of students in a school system that is struggling academically. The teacher, Jaime Escalante, is a very passionate teacher who is dedicated to helping his students succeed. He's known to be a tough teacher but he's also known to be a great and caring teacher. What resonated with me was the idea that despite the struggles these students went through, they were able to succeed because of the teacher's dedication to them. There was this one quote that really stuck with me,


"There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of those two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. *Math* is the great equalizer... When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I. You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is *ganas.* *Desire.*... If you don't have the *ganas,* I will give it to you because I'm an expert."


This movie has led me to the idea of being patient and understanding but also firm. I am definitely a believer that being in uncomfortable situations helps you grow.


Though, there are multiple angles to being a lead code coach for Codefi and I've learned so much from it.


My love for the program also stems from the idea of figuring out how I can elevate the learning environment through curriculum development. How can I create a space where everyone feels comfortable and confident in their learning? How can I make sure that everyone is set up to succeed?


There are strategies initiated to help create this environment
- Building trust - It's important to build trust with the participants to help create a comfortable space for them to learn.
- Being patient - It's important to be patient with the participants. Everyone is at different levels and it's important to understand that.
- Being firm - It's important to be firm with the participants. It's important to be able to push them to their limits.
- Modeling - It's important to model the behavior you want to see in the participants. It's important to show them that you are dedicated to their success.
- Showing passion in teaching - It's important to show that you care about the participants and their success.
- Showing passion in coding - It's important to show that you are dedicated to the craft and as you may know, energy is contagious.


Furthermore, I would say I am a caring individual and from my point of view, I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn and grow in the tech industry. When I first started to teach, I never did expect the idea of it being more than teaching. I've learned that it's more about being a mentor. Of course, I had somewhat of a glimpse from Stand and Deliver but to be put into the position of being a mentor was a whole new experience.


You start to realize that everyone is different and in different areas of life. I've taught individuals who are in their 40s and are looking to change their career path. I've also taught individuals who are in their 20s and are looking to get into the tech industry. I've taught mothers, fathers, grandparents, high school students, college students and more.


I've learned we are complex individuals with various variables that make us who we are. There are two broad sides of the challenge of being a great teacher. The first is the emotional aspect of it. You have to be able to understand that everyone is different and everyone has their own hardships. Everyone is in it to make a huge difference in their lives. Why I love this job at Codefi is the idea of being able to help people succeed. There's a genuine care for the participants of the program that we as Code Coaches develop. There's been times I stay up as late as midnight helping students with their code. I've had students come to me with personal issues and I've helped create a comfortable space to do just that. I've had students who have been struggling with the program and I've been able to help them through it. You create a lifelong bond.


The second side of the challenge is the technical aspect of it. Everyone has different backgrounds. Different set of numbers of hours spent towards the field. Beginners, intermediate, advanced. You have to be able to teach in a way that everyone can understand. We as Code Coaches follow a curriculum that is designed to help everyone garner the skills they need to succeed in the tech industry.


I teach, build and write the curriculum for the training program for participants. This involves writing code, creating projects, reading materials, uploading videos of lesson materials and much more. The curriculum is well thought out and I would say it is the most comprehensive curriculum I've seen. The key components of the curriculum include programming languages, full stack development, databases, version control, development workflow and life cycles and more. It is an enriched curriculum that is designed to help participants succeed in the tech industry. We know that the tech industry is always changing and we are always looking for ways to improve the curriculum. So to do just this, we take the time to understand the latest technologies, the latest trends and tools to help improve student capabilities but we also have to understand that the core concepts of the field for software development is the same in a basket of different technologies but offer different ways of doing it and capabilities.


I think the idea of success in the program can vary but for me as a Code Coach, yes it is about the success of the participants. The way we measure success as a program is when a participant can take the skills taught by the program and create an opportunity for them to be employed in the tech industry. We also see students freelance and even create their own businesses. From a personal objective, my aim in every class is this: my mission is to get the 'oooooh!' or the 'ah ha!' lightbulb moments from the participants. The passionate moments where they are able to understand the material and are able to apply it.


Teaching has been a great experience for me and I've learned very much from it. It's scary to think of the unknown but I've learned that it's okay to be scared. It's okay to be nervous. It's okay to be anxious. It's okay to be excited. It's okay to be happy. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to be angry. It's okay to be frustrated. It's okay to be confused. It's okay to be lost. It's okay to be found. It's okay to be you. It's okay to be human.


In a dark room, we hope our light shines bright enough to help others find their way.


Currently, it's been apparent that with the emergence of A.I, the educational system is going to change. The idea of being able to teach individuals how to code with A.I is going to be a huge part of the future. As we move forward, we are going to see a lot of changes in the tech industry. I am excited to be a part of that change. When it comes to the educational scene along with A.I, I predict that A.I will play an integral role in a fast paced learning environment. When it comes to scalability and the ability to teach dozens of dozens of students, A.I can be used by each student as a personal tutor. So I think with this technology, it's going to be a huge game changer in the educational scene in a way that will boost learning. In response to A.I this past year, it's the very reason why the program now is much more difficult in terms of material than it was before from the previous years since we now have a tool that can help us learn at a faster pace but also at a more difficult pace. At the very same time, there are instances however where the auto-complete from things like GPT or co-pilot can be detrimental to someone's learning. Code Labs recognizes the possibilities of A.I and we are always looking for ways to improve the program, the curriculum and the learning experience for the participants. We plan to gather our experiences with A.I as Code Coaches from these past two years and seek to understand how we can use A.I to help us teach better.


Although it has become my passion to uplift communities through teaching individuals software development, my other passionate side comes from the other side of my work for Codefi. I am a software developer who works on internal applications as well as with startups to help them build their products and services. I'm very passionate about all the applications I've built and currently are working on.


I've worked on more than multiple projects and teams during my tenure at Codefi. Currently, I am a lead for two applications; the Code Labs Dashboard, a learning management system where we foster a wide variety of features to help boost the learning experience for the participants of the Code Labs program and a application called "Co-angler" where users are able to connect with each other through fishing trips via social interaction.


Each application faces its own set of challenges. The Code Labs Dashboard is challenging since the development includes the way the program is structured. We don't want to recreate the wheel but instead want to think creatively how we can use our experiences and thoughts on practicalities into the learning environment through the dashboard. This is our advantage to the program, we are able to think outside the box and create a learning environment that is unique to the program.


The problem we previously faced within these past couple years had to do with the idea of the program recording participant progress. A process in which will allow participants to keep track of the amount of work they have to do. Since it's pretty common to establish an agile workflow through tech teams, we created a customized workflow for students to experience epics, sprints and tasks to learn about workflow under deadlines in the dashboard throughout the program. It's an organized manner that allows students to understand the importance of deadlines and the importance of managing their time.


Again, our biggest advantage as a program is the idea of being able to think outside the box and try things and not be afraid to go beyond the norm. We are not afraid to try new things and we are not afraid to fail.


Co-Angler, on the other hand, is a different challenge. The application is designed to help users find fishing trips, create fishing trips, join fishing trips, chat with other users, create a profile and more. The company along with the app was first thought of by a Code Labs participant by the name of John Bledsoe. John Bledsoe is a very passionate individual who is dedicated to the idea of creating a community of anglers. He's been a great individual to work with and I am excited to see the future holds for Co-Angler. It's also great to see how things came full circle. John Bledsoe was a participant of the Code Labs program and now he's an active participant of Codefi through the startup programs. It's great to see how the program has helped him and how he's been able to create a business out of it.


I can't express how much I enjoy the intricacies of building applications. Nothing is better than tackling a difficult problem and being able to solve it. What's more exciting is there's so much to learn and so much to do.


As I grow into the tech industry, I am excited to see what the future holds and how I can make a difference in the tech industry.


I have a series of ideas and projects that I am working on and I am excited to see them come to life and how they make a difference in the world. One such idea I like to talk about is the idea of creating a year round book. This book would revolve around the idea of 'Web Development in 'year number'' that would indicate the overview of the web development industry for that year. It would include the latest technologies, the latest trends, the latest projects, the latest startups, the latest applications, the latest tools, the latest resources, the latest news and much more. I think it would be a great resource for individuals who are looking to get into the tech industry as well as seasoned veterans. People will be able to use this book as an overview of important topics rather than having to stress about keeping up with the day to day fast pace tech industry. I believe that this book would be a great resource for the tech industry and I am excited to see it come to life.


I am definitely a firm believer in being involved in communities. I hope to become a part of the tech industry in a way that I can make a difference. As I continue on my venture to learn, fail and build, it is in my best interest to always make sure to take myself, family and friends into this journey.