Developer Experience

When I was in high school I dabbled in some HTML and PHP websites for fun, but it was just a hobby and I didn't pursue it any more seriously at the time.

Then over the next years I used a number of CMS's to manage websites - whether for personal purposes or on behalf of others. Websites that I've used to create/maintain websites: Wix, Weebly, WordPress, Squarespace, Google Sites and Blogger.

The biggest website that I maintained was on behalf of our school for a number of years. During that time I made 2 major overhauls of the school website trying to make it more responsive and modern. For the first one, I used a simple HTML/CSS template and for the second design I used WordPress (but even then I still got into the code directly to make some specific tweaks that weren't possible in the GUI).

I no longer maintain our school's website, but I do currently have an active client that I maintain a business website for: Hulings & Associates

I'm familiar with some basic domain management - whether updating CNAME's, setting up SSL certificates or deploying simple server-side applications. At our school I'm our Google Admin for our domain and have touched most parts of that interface. While I can't claim to have deep knowledge in many of those areas, I've dabbled enough in many different realms to at least be able to figure things out and make things work.

In 2024 I decided to formalize the developer training I had been working on by pursuing a degree in Software Engineering. In 3 months I completed 16 courses from Sophia.org and Study.com allowing me to transfer into Western Governor's University(WGU) with 60% of the degree already complete since I already had a bachelor of science in Chemistry. In the first two months with WGU, I completed 11 courses allowing me to rapidly complete my Software Engineering degree.

Here are some projects I created during my coding training

Work Experience

After graduating from Calvin University, I have worked at Calvary Christian Schools in Fruitport, MI until present. I started as a high school science teacher, but after a while my role started shifting into more technical roles. I started helping create the class schedules (one big puzzle that I always enjoyed putting together), helping with the school technology that just came naturally to me, and even took over some building maintenance. Those roles grew over time (with the technology part taking up the majority of the job) and eventually I let go of all the classes I was teaching to move into the administrative and support staff roles I took on.

I grew a lot and gained a variety of experiences while learning a wide range of things: from networking, work in the terminal, SSH, security camera systems, chromebook management, library management software, student information systems, HVAC software and even fixing a broken sprinkler system that half a dozen other people couldn't fix.

I've learned a lot of determination and flexibility in troubleshooting problems and finding solutions. As an example of creative problem solving, there was one period we were very limited on budget but in great need to update our computers. We got computers donated to us from Baker College but didn't have extra funds to buy the licenses for operating systems and software. I spent a lot of time researching Linux and learning how to deploy a fleet of computers using open source software to save the school tens of thousands of dollars. From student computers to teacher computers, we used Linux for many years (up until recently when we got chromebooks for students and iMacs for staff thanks to covid funding).

I also had some side jobs over the years: driver's ed instructor, technology coordinator for soundboard/livestream volunteers at our church, track and field head coach, board game club advisor and also got a masters in Educational Technology from Michigan State University.

In some of my free time, I also worked on creativity skills with some YouTube videos making videos about chemistry as well as recap lessons on movies