My name is Henry Nunez and I am from the 6.4 full-stack cohort. It is with great pleasure that I can officially announce that I am the new web apprentice at cLabs.
Being a Fellow and now alumni of Pursuit is certainly a great honor. Working, collaborating, or just simply having discussions alongside my cohort has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
If I could do it all over again, I would with no hesitation.
I hope that we continue to grow and eventually collaborate on some future projects.
Before Pursuit, I was in college studying exercise science in the hopes of becoming a physical therapist. But during my time in college, I never found my footing and I just didn’t believe in the system. Every year it seemed that I needed to take a class to take another class. I realized that I wouldn’t finish school in four years. But I stuck it out up until my junior year when I was offered a coaching position after a six-month internship with the New York Red Bulls.
I was excited. In fact, school became an afterthought. The coaching job wasn’t physical therapy, but I was working for a professional organization. It all seemed fine until 2 years later I found myself doing the same thing over and over, running the same plays, and suddenly the smoke screen cleared and I felt like a hamster on a wheel.
I needed change, I was yearning for something more.
I wasn’t sure what it was but I was willing to find it. I decided to quit my job, and I ended up doing all sorts of jobs.
I was a Barista, an EMT, and eventually, I got a job as a front desk receptionist because it was the only job that would give me a flexible schedule. I had decided to give college another shot. Unlike Kanye, I was tired of being a college dropout. But, a close friend of mine sent me an email about Pursuit. I read the email, and I saw this video of a person working on an app for what looked like a virtual solar system. I also read that if I were to get admitted into this program I would work on projects similar to that. This seemed cool, I thought.
But there was a problem: I knew nothing about computer science. Coding was such an abstract concept to me. I’d be lucky to even get admitted. So I didn’t apply at first. A couple of weeks later, I received another email about an info session that Pursuit was hosting. Let me tell you guys, I’m happy I went that day. I saw stories and even met some of the Fellows.
From that experience, I knew I wanted to get into tech.
I applied and had my interview. Today I can honestly laugh at the experience because I had cursed in the interview and I thought that I had blown this opportunity. But thankfully Vincent, the volunteer who was conducting the interview at the time, understood that I was coming from a place of frustration and vulnerability. They saw that I was tired of being in the position I was in and saw that I was more than willing to do what it took to be successful in this program and I’m effing thankful for that.
My experience at Pursuit has been an incredible one. I remember the first day, everyone in our cohort was so different. Everyone came from different backgrounds and different professions. We were such an eclectic group. But as time passed by, it turned out we were more similar than we were different. One thing was common: we were here because we wanted a big change in our lives. Oh and most of us lacked sleep, we were running on coffee, some of us were running out of patience. But ultimately, we were there for one another.
Every day I entered Pursuit, it felt like a playground where the possibilities were endless.
I had the time of my life. I learned so much about computer programming, reinforced my soft skills, but more importantly I learned so much about myself. I did things at Pursuit that once seemed impossible. I improved my typing skills from 12 wpm to now 60 wpm. I was being mentored by not one but two Google engineers. I attended and participated in multiple hackathons and got the chance to collaborate with people from all over the world. Some of my classmates and I worked and created full-stack web applications where they’re currently deployed into the world wide web. To think that all of this happened in just one year…
The day after the year-long Fellowship was one of the saddest days that I could remember. I mean I just had an incredible year and just like that, I was no longer meeting with my cohort day-to-day. But I figured it was time to put my big boy pants on, and go out and conquer the world.
I created a game plan: 5 job applications, 5 code challenges, and at least 1 virtual coffee hour with someone in the tech industry every day up. This was my schedule from the first day I left Pursuit up until the time I signed the contract for my first job in tech. It was a tough time. It seemed that for every 1 job application I filled out, I would get 3 emails saying how they appreciated that I took the time to fill out their application but at this time I was not the engineer they were looking for. It was tough, really tough actually but, I didn’t give up.
I knew this was part of the journey.
140 job applications later cLabs decided to take a chance on this 30-year-old man. What attracted me to cLabs was that their values strongly aligned with mine. Also their positive social impact around the world and how they help all these communities through crypto and blockchain technology. I get to go into these meetings and I see how engineers and other leaders in the industry tackle some of the problems with crypto, building beautiful apps to create a solution to these problems.
They’re really inclusive, and I’m always amazed at the things they’re doing to reach out to underdeveloped communities to bridge the gap of financial inclusivity.
On a personal note since day one, they have invested in my growth. One example, before I started I was asked how I would like to grow as a developer at cLabs. I expressed that I wanted to grow as a front-end developer and improve my UI/UX. On the first day, I was able to meet with the lead designer. I picked his brain about branding, music, colors… just about anything. As I said, this is a company that is invested in my growth long term. I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity. To see first hand how start-ups work. I get to see how cryptocurrency has such a positive impact on underprivileged communities on a global scale. When I voice an opinion, they listen. I have a great mentor. He breaks down everything, teaches something new every day.
So Marissa, Aaron, and cLabs… THANK YOU!!!!!
I would love to thank my parents, Amelda and Carlos, who with their grit and determination were able to give my six siblings and me the best life they could. For also always being supportive of all my endeavors. To my best friend and my little sister, Sulma, who is one of the strongest people I know, and who has been an anchor for me throughout this journey. To my friends who have been understanding and super supportive on this new journey, thank you so much. To the Pursuit staff, Jukay, David, Caroline, Jess, Corey, Jon, Alejo, Jhenya, Celine, Daphne, Alex, I could go on and on.
You folks are changing people's lives in ways where I had no idea was possible.
Thank you all for being so selfless, and allowing me to be part of this amazing community. To my cohort, thank you!! Thank you for being the best that you can be, for always showing up and working hard, for failing forward with me, and for raising me to the challenge when we had to step it up.
This past year has not been an easy one, to say the least. But I was lucky enough to have spent it with you guys.
— Henry Nunez, now a software engineer at cLabs
The following is the script from 6.4 Fellow Henry Nunez’s speech at his Gong Ceremony, a Pursuit tradition when graduated Fellows celebrate landing a full-time tech job with their families, friends, colleagues, and our community cheering them on. Watch Henry deliver his speech and ring the gong in the video above.
This is his transformation story, in his words.