See what students from United States are saying
How SheCodes helped Aniqa transition from Patient Service Representative to Human-Centered Computing PhD Student.
๐โโ๏ธ Before SheCodes
Meet Aniqa ๐บ๐ธ! Originally from the United States and currently living in Maryland, Aniqa is a creative and curious learner who loves exploring new interests. In her free time, she enjoys editing videos for social media, photographing birds and stars, and writing about her dreams and future plans. ๐ She also has a fun talent โ she can mimic bird sounds, especially the funny calls of Indian Ringneck parrots! ๐ฆ
Before she started coding, Aniqa worked as a Patient Service Representative at a primary care office of Mercy Health Services. In this role, she supported around ten physicians and nearly 300 patients daily. She used Epic โ the largest healthcare software platform โ to manage tasks like patient registration, medical records, referrals, insurance updates, and provider communication. ๐ผ
Aniqaโs coding journey began with a spark of inspiration from Epic's layout and design. She became interested in user experience (UX) and wanted to learn how responsive applications were built. Thatโs when she found SheCodes. She joined a free SheCodes coding class, and in just her first week of learning, she built her first website on 2.22.22 โ a milestone that made her feel excited and motivated to keep going.
โI achieved this goal by joining a free coding workshop of SheCodes. The fact that I was able to code my first website on 2.22.22, or in just the first week of learning, motivated me to continue coding with SheCodes. It has been 2 years since, and I still would love to continue learning with SheCodes if there are any new workshops.โ
What truly caught her attention about SheCodes was the supportive community, the high success rate, and the mission to empower women in tech. She was inspired by how the workshops start with the basics and gradually introduce more advanced skills like APIs, AI, and React. Aniqa also loved the bright design, user-friendly interface, and beautiful shareable certificates. Two years later, sheโs still excited to keep learning and hopes to join new SheCodes workshops in the future. ๐
๐ฉโ๐ป Her SheCodes Experience
Aniqaโs experience with SheCodes was flexible, supportive, and full of learning. She loved being able to complete the workshops online while managing her job, thanks to the flexible schedule. She especially appreciated the ability to replay recorded video lessons, which made it easy to learn at her own pace. ๐งโ๐ป
โThe best thing about SheCodes was to be able to learn and complete workshops online from work with a flexible schedule and replay recorded video lectures shared by our respected instructor, Matt Delac, who explained each video clearly and provided several practice opportunities with quick challenges and solution tutorials.โ
She found the workshops well-structured, with clear explanations from instructor Matt Delac and plenty of practice through challenges and tutorials. The deadline flexibility and the option to pay in full or in installments over six months made the experience even more accessible and stress-free. Aniqa is especially grateful for the 24/7 support from the SheCodes Team, which helped her stay on track. ๐ช
One memorable moment from her learning journey was during the Weather App project, when she accidentally misplaced a comma in her code. This small mistake caused her API call to stop working, but with help from the SheCodes Team, she quickly found the issue. That experience taught her the importance of being observant and double-checking her code, especially when working with JavaScript and APIs. It was a small error, but a big lesson! ๐ก
๐ How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
With SheCodes, Aniqa found the confidence and skills to take a big step forward in her academic and professional journey. She was accepted into the PhD program in Human-Centered Computing at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) โ a top research university in her home state of Maryland. ๐๐ป
Aniqa is grateful to SheCodes for helping her build a strong foundation in coding, which continues to support her work and studies. She now feels empowered to code websites and applications for her personal projects, research presentations, and even for friends, family, and small businesses. Being able to create tools for data collection, digital portfolios, and academic sharing has made her feel more independent and confident in her skills. ๐
โI am able to code for friends, family, and small businesses. This makes me feel empowered and independent, as now I can code any application or website that I need to share or publish my research results, or even collect data via surveys and update my digital portfolio for final semester's presentations.โ
SheCodes has also helped Aniqa explore creative ideas through tech. Some of her favorite projects include a Pet Finder website for birds, a joke and poetry generator about planets using skills from the SheCodes AI workshop, and useful tools like a weather app, world clock, and online dictionary. One of her favorite jokes from her app?
"Why did Jupiter break up with Saturn? Because it couldn't afford that many rings!" ๐ซ
These fun, personal touches have made her learning journey not only useful but also joyful. Aniqa is proud of how far sheโs come โ and excited for everything that lies ahead! ๐
๐ฉโ๐ผ Advice to Future SheCodes Student
Aniqa has lots of encouraging advice for anyone starting their SheCodes journey. She always recommends the workshops to young girls and beginners, both online and in person. Her biggest tip? Start slow, practice daily, and complete your weekly assignments at your own pace. She also suggests watching plenty of video lessons and asking for help when neededโwhether itโs from the SheCodes Team on Slack or the Athena AI assistant.
โI always recommend SheCodes online on social media and in-person to young girls who are interested in learning how to code, and one piece of advice I give to everyone is to start slow with daily practice and finish weekly assignments at your own paceโ.
Aniqa believes itโs important to celebrate your progress, so she encourages everyone to join the weekly and monthly coding challenges to earn badges or certificates. She also reminds students to update their resumes and portfolios regularly, and to keep going until they feel confident enough to code on their own or teach others. ๐ช
Outside of work, SheCodes had a meaningful impact on Aniqaโs life. She learned how to add features like embedded Google Translators to websites, which helps her multilingual friends reach wider audiences. This simple skill allows her to support others and bring value to their work, which makes her feel proud and happy. ๐
Aniqa also shares what sheโs learned with others โ helping friends navigate their workshops, answering their questions, and creating social media videos to showcase her SheCodes projects. She often promotes SheCodes discounts, especially around International Womenโs Day, and even recommends helpful tools like hunter.io to men who are interested in coding.
Sheโs also connected with many other SheCoders through social media and the SheCodes Connect community, and she hopes to collaborate with them in the future.
She feels proud to be part of a community that empowers women around the world, especially through the Delac Foundation, which helps women in developing countries learn to code for free. Aniqa plans to stay active in this community and continue supporting others just as SheCodes has supported her. ๐๐ฉโ๐ป
โI love the fact that SheCodes workshops help women in developing countries learn to code for free with the help of SheCodes Foundation. I plan to stay part of such a wonderful community that helps women around the world. โ
We are so proud of you, Aniqa! ๐
Check out Aniqa's testimonials:
Check out Aniqa's testimonials:
๐ Aniqaโs SheCodes Basics Testimonial:
โBest coding workshop for working professionals. I highly recommend it. Thanks to my instructor Matt Delac, the SheCodes team, and their Radio for helping me out to code my first website.โ
๐ Aniqaโs SheCodes Responsive Testimonial:
โThe most interesting and important project of SheCodes is Portfolio and I enjoyed every week of the Responsive Workshop. Thanks to my instructor and the entire SheCodes team for their support. ^_^โ
๐ Aniqaโs SheCodes Python Advanced Testimonial:
โThank you SheCodes for your 24/7 support with new challenges and amazing online videos by instructor, Matt Delac, who developed Python Advanced tutorials in a way that is so easy to understand. I recommend it 100%.โ
