Rose Cipriano

Get to know Rose Cipriano

What are you looking for in your next role?

A workplace with a strong, supportive community of people who love what they do. The ideal environment is one that encourages continuous learning and growth.

Why did you decide to change career and/or educational paths? What was your prior path and how did you end up down that road initially?

I originally wanted to pursue art as a career and decided to study graphic design at a technical high school. I eventually found that I really enjoyed making art as a hobby, but I no longer wanted to make a career out of it. I've picked up various customer service jobs since graduating high school, my most recent job being a server position at a local retirement home. I really did enjoy that job, but I didn't feel fulfilled. My sister brought up the idea of taking a programming course and I was intrigued. I wanted to pursue a career that would push me to challenge myself and explore outside of my comfort zone, and I knew that learning how to code would be a step in the right direction. I started to feel more excited and hopeful for my future than I had in a long time. My sister sent me a link to the Launch Academy website and after doing some research of my own, I decided to take the risk and just go for it!

Where have you been involved in the tech community (events attended, volunteer activities, etc.)?

I haven't been involved with any tech communities yet, although I recently made an account on a meetup website to join some local tech groups and keep up with events. I'm interested in meeting fellow web developers in my area through local online or in person meetups. I'm particularly interested in the Girl Develop It Boston group.

What has been the most fulfilling aspect of your journey towards becoming a web developer? What's been your biggest challenge and how have you overcome it?

The most fulfilling part of my journey so far has been realizing that I am capable of learning skills and topics that I once believed to be difficult and out of my realm of understanding. I've become much more confident in myself and my abilities. One of the toughest technical challenges I faced was when I was learning about JavaScript loops towards the beginning of my time at Launch. I was really struggling with the concept. It just wasn't clicking for me and I was starting to get frustrated. I ended up reaching out to some of the members of my cohort to get some help understanding an assignment that involved loops. We completed the assignment together and I left the Zoom call with a much better understanding of the concept, as well as feeling much less apprehensive about reaching out to my peers for help when I needed it.

If you had an unlimited budget and resources, what would you build?

I would build some awesome new web pages for my family members with their own company websites. I would also build a website where I can display my art. I love to draw strange creatures and eventually I'd like to start adding stories, names, personalities, etc to them. I want to build a website where you can navigate through pages representing different regions where these creatures live and be able to click on them to find out more about them. In addition to the website, I would make a story-based game where you can interact with the creatures themselves. It could be a 'choose your own path' type of game where the player, the only human in the story, becomes best friends with whichever weird creature they decide to befriend. I would write all the dialogue and create all of the art myself. It would be awesome to combine my illustrations and storytelling with my developing programming skills to create something shareable and interactive.