Kangai Mwiti | SheCodes

Kangai Mwiti

🇰🇪 Kenyan living in Nairobi, 🇰🇪 Kenya
✅ Approved by

Kangai's Story One of my deep and abiding loves is for sci-fi and fantasy entertainment. I have always found it fascinating that entire worlds can be designed and created by teams of software engineers and animators working together, bringing stories to life in ways that would never have been possible were it not for advances in technology. For instance, one of the best examples of what CGI and software engineering can do is in the creation of the Alita character in the movie "Alita: Battle Angel". You may be wondering how this connects to who I am and what I want to be as a software developer. In short, I absolutely love sci-fi and fantasy entertainment as it helps me boost my imagination as I am a creative. I absolutely love the idea of creating something with my hands that didn't exist before. To that end, I've worked hard to perfect my craft as a makeup artist over the past decade, living and working in Nairobi. At the same time, I've been working as a freelance visual content strategist, working with brands locally and around the world to design their social media content. Both these lines of work came to an abrupt halt once the pandemic hit, and my income has taken a huge hit as a result. Inasmuch as this was not desirable for me (and the entire globe as well), it forced me to really think about what I want to do going forward and where I want to invest my time. You see my work as a makeup artist has made me adept at understanding faces and features of all skin types, tones and textures. I understand how different light affects final imagery and video, and I'm well versed in facial features and how they can be changed with different colours, highlights and contours, and with blending and precision placement of product. And so when I watch movies with computer-generated characters, I find myself drawn to how those characters were created in the first place, and what I would have done to make them look and feel more life-like. I've done a lot of research into what goes into the design and creation of various CGI characters, and one interesting aspect is how often-times new software has to be written to properly light their faces to make them look that much more realistic. I find this aspect of coding immensely interesting and attractive, and my dream is to transition into being a full-stack developer so that I can finally merge my curiosity and my talent into a fulfilling career.

🙋‍♀️ Kangai's Motivation

When I learned about the mission of SheCodes (in working to get more women into coding and software engineering roles), I had to submit an application. I remember taking a mandatory Introduction to Computers class in university years ago, and I was scarred since then because the content was presented in a very difficult-to-understand manner. I since shelved my dream to be a software developer until I stumbled upon the SheCodes hour-long presentation. I watched Matt in the initial class and then signed up to participate once again because I was deeply encouraged by how simple and uncomplicated he makes the coding experience. As I watched him live-coding the yoga-themed website using HTML, CSS and Javascript, he made concepts that have otherwise been complicated come to life. So much so that I downloaded VS Code and tried my hand at some very basic html code myself. Apart from the fact that I like the SheCodes approach to learning coding, I am awed by the fact that you have had a huge impact across the world, even down to my own city- Nairobi. I only wish I had learned about SheCodes much earlier than now. I'm excited to be applying to learn with SheCodes not only because of your impact but also because of your approach that closely mirrors how I learn- something that I think many universities overlook in my part of the world. I am a complete creative. My passion (in terms of work and play) has always surrounded creating, and the fact that the SheCodes curriculum focuses on creating from the jump is something that attracted me to the programs. Additionally, reviews of the program (such as this one by Liz Rowe- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWz5rOJJ5os) are incredibly encouraging for a creative learner like me. Personally, I want to finally bridge the gap between my talents as a creative and what coding can help me do and become. In addition to the fact that coding is a career with immeasurable prospects in terms of growth and opportunity, it's time for me to delve deeper into a career path that I know will provide both expertise and fulfilment, and I hope that SheCodes can be a catalyst in my journey to becoming a full-time web or software developer.

🤹‍♀️ Kangai's Hobbies

As mentioned I am a makeup artist. I love playing with colours and textures to create makeup looks both on myself and on others. I also used to teach makeup artistry, but took a break due to a small back injury that disallowed me from remaining standing for long periods of time. I also love hiking outdoors, and Kenya has some amazing hiking trails that anyone can try. I hike with a group of women and we go on day-long hikes in places like the Aberdares, Ngare Ndare, Ngong Hills etc. And recently, I realised that I have a passion for baking! I've made muffins of all types like triple-chocolate and vanilla chocolate-chip, plain vanilla, apple-cinnamon, banana-walnut and more. I also tried red-velvet cookies and cinnamon rolls- both with cream cheese frosting.

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Kangai's coding training

Kangai has gained access to SheCodes Pro for at no cost. It’s a 6 month coding training that’ll take her from a beginner to a professional.

She'll learn everything that SheCodes has to offer, from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to React, Responsive development, and development tools. She'll also get to build her own online portfolio to showcase to potential employers!

📦 SheCodes Plus includes all of our workshops:
1. Basics Coding Workshop (3 weeks)
2. Basics Add-on (1 week)
3. Plus Coding Workshop (8 weeks)
4. Plus Add-on (2 weeks)
5. AI Add-on (2 weeks)
She’ll gain access to each portion after finishing the preceding portion. She’ll build up her coding knowledge gradually along the way. 🙌

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SheCodes Foundation Mission

Women currently hold 25% of coding jobs and earn 30% less money than men. In most developing countries, more than 65% of women don't have bank accounts and cannot afford to invest in their education. Female refugees also don’t have many opportunities to invest in their education and improve their career horizon - they often work in unskilled, undervalued, and low-paid informal sectors.

SheCodes is here to help provide women in developing countries and women who are refugees with the opportunity to learn how to code for free. SheCodes offers a solid introduction to product development, product design and product management.

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Why learn how to code?

Coding knowledge creates new job opportunities, improves your analytical thinking, and enhances your personal or professional skill set.

Get a Job in Tech

Learning how to code provides you with new career opportunities and helps make you a more marketable employee in our increasingly technological job market.

Grow Your Skill Set

Gain some coding knowledge to improve your personal or professional skill set.

Improve Your Analytical Thinking

Learning how to code improves your analytical thinking, which is a critical skill to have in the workplace.

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