Meet the Instructor: Jenny Ardrey

Mentor at Manchester Codes

How long have you been coding? How did you get started?

I've been interested in coding since I was a teen (probably sparked by watching The Matrix and Hackers..) but started teaching myself using online resources on and off probably about 5 years ago. I really got stuck into it when I enrolled onto the Manchester Codes Software Engineer FastTrack course in 2019.

What do you enjoy about working at Manchester Codes?

Everyone at Manchester Codes is super friendly and it's a really diverse and accepting community. Staff and students (past and present) are always there to help you out with a coding problem, or just to chat about nothing!

What gets you excited about Technology?

The possibilities! We can do anything with technology, from medical advances and space travel to figuring out what's wrong with my house plants by taking a picture of the leaves. I love that with a few coding skills you could go and work in any number of different industries, and end up somewhere you never thought you would.

Favourite language and framework/library/ tool?

React 4 lyf. Although i'm always learning new stuff so the list grows every day.

Least favourite language and framework/library/ tool?

I'm yet to meet a language I *really* don't like. But I argue with CSS a lot though.

One piece of advice you have for people fresh to Software development?

Join the community. It's hard having questions and dealing with problems on your own, I tried it this way for a long time, but there's tonnes of people out there who have been in your exact position who can give you advice. And sometimes it's nice to have a fresh set of eyes point out the spelling mistake that's breaking your code.

Outside of work, what do like to do for fun? How do you spend your downtime?

I like to take pictures with my old film cameras, and watch bad, low budget movies, do fun little coding projects. I recently made the game Snake but with a Long Furby instead of a snake...

What did you want to be when you were younger?

I wanted to be a hacker just like Angelina Jolie, but without the questionable outfits.

Do you have a pet? If so, what do you have?

No pets!

If you were stranded on a remote island, alone. What piece of technology/ gadget would you be unable to live without?

I think i'd take a disc-man and a big folder of CDs.

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