Launcher Stories - Meet Romina

Alex Schwartz

By Alex Schwartz

February 1, 2022

After taking some time away from the tech field, Romina decided to attend Launch Academy to upgrade her skills and boost her career. Hear her story, the challenges she faced on campus, what it is like being in the field as a non-native English speaker, and how her time at Launch Academy prepared her for her new role at Wayfair in this Launcher Story.   Video Transcript Hello, my name is Romina Karim. I'm from cohort Boston 24 and in a couple of months I'm going to be working for Wayfair as a Software Engineer. I got a degree in Informatics Engineering many years ago but I stepped back from that path just to join my family business. They needed some extra help so I was doing some management there. Now that it's time to get back to my field for me, I had the opportunity to join this institution which is Launch Academy. It has been a fantastic experience for me. Despite the fact that I had some work experience, the gap was really big. It's been like 5 years since I was working in the field, so I was looking for some way to get back in this career that I could connect to some companies and, obliviously, upgrade my skills and my resume. So I was looking for - not university exactly - because I don't think that's the way because I already have some skills. So, I found that Launch Academy had so many reviews about the Career Services and this fantastic way that they have to connect students to their hiring partners. I gave it a try and all the reviews definitely were true - that's exactly how it works. At the beginning of the program, it's definitely very challenging - getting back and getting all that material, which is a lot. Things to analyze and to learn - just seeing those things again...it was really exciting for me actually because even though I was already working in the management field and was making money and stuff...it wasn't actually what I was - I wasn't feeling like -  I like the software field because I like to feel - to be challenged. You know, it just feels like you're solving a puzzle and I was kind of missing that. As a non English native speaker, it was challenging because in this field you have to communicate some technical stuff and also ideas when you are building some projects - apps - you have to share all the ideas that a project is going to have, of course. It was kind of nerve-wracking at the very beginning, but the culture at Launch Academy is very encouraging. It's an inclusive culture so that made me feel a little bit better and definitely the people in my cohort were fantastic. They were willing to listen to all the things I wanted to project. So, it was helpful in that aspect. I could do it. If you are looking to change your career or if you are looking to get back in the field just like I did, Launch Academy is a great experience. It's the right opportunity to do so. You're going to have a very structured program where you're going to become a developer, definitely. If that's your passion and you just do the work in the right way, you're going to be able to get a job in a real good company in the Greater Boston Area.