Student Highlight – Jessica Stensrod

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Student Highlight – Jessica Stensrod

This week’s Student Highlight is on Jessica Stensrud one of IEL’s first </> tech bootcamp students. Jessica is a brilliant coder, passionate social justice warrior, with a soul that needs the sound of a violin. First graduating from Carnegie Mellon as an accomplished Violinist Jessica studied and worked under the greatest teachers of classical music for many years. In 2015, After a long and illustrious career as a Violinist Jessica, she was forced to transition into a new workforce. When asked how she found her way into tech, and Rhode Island, she states, “mostly by accident”.One decision lead to another eventually finding her way into our family here at IEL. Jessica is a self-taught techie, like our founder Keno Mullings, and appreciates that this space is safe and open to people from all corners of the world and spectrum.

Do you feel you gained the skills you were looking for after completing Tech Bootcamp?

  • Learning skills is always a moving target in the IT world. It never stops but IEL has opened many doors to me of possibilities and paths to explore which are totally relevant in today’s ultra-competitive world of IT. Keno and his team are always current in their knowledge of what is going on in the outside business world so it’s not a static environment at IEL that will seem suddenly stale in the real world. That’s extremely important. Also, their job search and exploration tools are always morphing into something different and useful both on a personal growth level and a job application level. AND they are posting jobs for us to apply for! This is really an amazing program that ANYONE and EVERYONE can benefit from.

How has the Tech Bootcamp classes helped you in the world of technology today?

  • They have made me feel confident that I can do what I say I can do.

How has this training been impactful to your career?

  • It has given me many ways to branch out, expand what I already know and get skills that will lead me on a promising path. Many jobs that I have applied for now have longer and longer “laundry lists” of required qualifications and this program has inspired me to know that I can do what’s needed and learn really fast what is required.