Adrienne Lee launched a new career in tech with Juno's Web Development Bootcamp — here's her story.
My first memories of tech were in the early ‘90s. My dad brought home an IBM 386 and we unboxed this huge beige machine that felt like it took up an entire room. I remember him untangling the wires and connecting the tower to the clunky screen, and the way the printer made that slow zipper noise as it would traverse the roll of paper, bringing text files to real, tangible life.
I don’t think anyone in my family recognized how pivotal of a role this machine would play in our household, and I wouldn’t revisit these memories for another three decades. My dad taught me the basic commands of MS DOS, but other than that, the use of this machine was (strictly!) for academic or professional purposes. I would never really get into technology for years to come.
My next touchpoint with tech was seeing my older brother get admitted to the University of Toronto’s Computer Science program. My brother was the gifted child; picking up new subjects for him was a breeze. But in his second year of CS, he switched majors. He admitted algorithms and data structures were hard. I had no idea what he was talking about, but if he thought they were hard... I just about blacklisted those subjects from any stream in my curriculum from then on.
My brother and I grew up in a household that was a product of the Model Minority Myth, and it was instilled in us that there were only two options for us when we turned 18 - we either go to University, or we move out and get a full-time job. We both chose post-secondary school. After my brother’s “failed” attempt at Computer Science, my parents doubled down on my choices in school. I had to take something I was good at, not something that I loved — and that led me to an unpassionate four years of Biochemistry.
In my undergrad years, life would throw a number of challenges and tragedies my way. I lost a number of family members, my dad included, to chronic illnesses, and a few years later, my best friend. These life events shifted my entire perspective of the universe: life is too short to be just doing things you’re good at, versus the things you actually care about.
Life is too short to be just doing things you’re good at, versus the things you actually care about.
I volunteered and worked abroad, and eventually came back to Toronto and landed a job in non-profit management for the philanthropic arm of a travel and tourism brand. I got to travel to some incredible places for work - Bhutan, Namibia, Antarctica, to name a few. I even met my partner and we ended up being able to travel for work together.
I also spent a lot of time at conferences and trade shows. As an inherent introvert, being externally facing took a lot of mental and physical energy. I allowed myself to get into another cycle of being externally validated for being “good at something” but not necessarily something I loved to do.
Then, we had one in-kind donation from a UX Developer to help us re-brand and refresh our website. The caveat was they would help me set up and teach me how to use WordPress, so that after our time together, the organization would be able to manage changes on our own. I absolutely loved working with this donor, and my first actual experience in front-end development. This time with them would spark a tech-curiosity that I would hold on to for years, and help fuel my decision to make the change.
Things changed when the pandemic hit. Things changed for everyone.
Things changed when the pandemic hit. Things changed for everyone. Conferences stopped. Travel was halted. And so many of my friends and colleagues were let go or furloughed. Whatever momentum the sustainable travel industry had gained prior to the pandemic was quickly washed away. I found myself continuing to do work that I was good at, but didn’t necessarily love, and on top of this, my personal values with my work started to misalign.
I started to feel the implications of this, which many of us feel, through physical and mental burnout. I was feeling disconnected to the work that I was doing, and struggled to draw focus. On top of this, societal struggles were weighing heavy on my heart and mind.
As a way to reconnect with my curiosity and reposition my energy towards something constructive, I signed up for Juno’s introduction to Web Development continuing education course. I was hesitant at first on whether I would enjoy spending an additional 6 hours/week on the computer during the summer of all seasons; but the ability to be creative, connect with a community, and tangibly see my work come to life was the realignment I needed.
...the ability to be creative, connect with a community, and tangibly see my work come to life was the realignment I needed.
As the course was wrapping, I spoke with a few friends and past colleagues who were all Juno Alumni. Their impressions of Juno's Web Development Bootcamp shared a common thread: if they were to do it all again, they would absolutely choose Juno for the course content, career support, community, and commitment to create a space for those underrepresented in tech to thrive.
I had the added bonus of meeting another student, Linda Columbus, in the intro to Web Development course who was also studying in my hometown of Hamilton. We were going through similar career transitions and quickly became friends. Over drinks, a rare in-person occasion during the pandemic, we talked about the Juno journey, and I am so glad I had her by my side each step of the way.
I signed up for Juno's Javascript course, and after ten years in travel, I handed in my resignation at the end of the summer.
For the first time in my academic history, I gave myself permission to be bad at something I was interested in, and have the courage to see where passion would lead me.
I loved my Bootcamp experience. Juno does a wonderful job creating an environment where you are learning while doing, and helping students really process and internalize new concepts and languages. Their mentorship goes beyond what is taught in the classroom and extends to helping students regain confidence in our abilities to negotiate, set boundaries, and be gentle with ourselves when we stumble and fall. I also just haven’t laughed that much on Zoom in the entire length of the pandemic!
I studied at Juno for their values-oriented ecosystem in making the tech industry more diverse and equitable. What I didn’t realize was that their team would also help me find the same in my career — ensuring that what I care about also translated into the work that I will put out in the world every day. With the help and referral of Juno’s Career Services, I landed a job as a Web Developer for Canada’s largest progressive creative agency, Point Blank Creative. It was 3 months to the day that I opened my laptop for the first day of Bootcamp, to receiving my first offer letter — and again, the world seems to surprise me at how quickly life can change.
There are many things I enjoy about this new position and organization I’m part of. As I spend the first few months onboarding, something that keeps coming back to me is their intentionality for me to not hit the ground running. I feel like I’ve been given the opportunity to hit the ground by learning to bike: they have resourced me with a new bicycle (a well-paced onboarding with regular check-ins, and meaningful projects), training wheels (external resources, senior devs, and technical classes so I feel comfortable learning their tech stack and tools), and a sweet helmet (the ability to be experimental, work-life balance, and empathetic leadership).
I am continuously moving forward, but it’s up to me when I’m ready to take those training wheels off. And when I do, my team knows it’s all roads ahead. Forks, twists, curves, hills — I’ll be ready to tackle these with my team.
Our society instills expectations that growth must be upwards and that paths must be linear. But this is rarely the case.
I wanted to make a change from what felt comfortable but complacent, to something that was challenging but enthralling. I wanted to grow out, to wind and twist, to root down, to find growth that felt more meaningful to my soul versus what others might deem as indicators of success.
My path into tech was illustrative of this. There is no perfect way to get to your destination, the only right way is the way that feels right for you.
Curious about a career in web development?
Adrienne transformed her life by finding her passion, community, and new career with our Web Development Bootcamp. Learn more about it below!