DevCat Alumni Spotlight: Dahia Jackson
We were recently able to catch up with Dahia Jackson, a Dev Catalyst alumna, who took the program her senior year of high school at Madison Academic in 2016. She is currently working for Illinois Mutual as their Web and Graphic Designer.
Dahia has a passion for the arts but wasn’t sure what pursuit in that field would look like. “I was always involved in art and loved watching cartoons and playing video games. Even now as an adult, I still do! So early on I decided that I would pursue something in the arts but wasn't sure what I'd do. I graduated from Madison Academic back in 2016 and after that decided to attend Bradley University where I studied Interactive Media with a concentration in Animation.” Initially, she had thought she would specialize in 2D animation but her trajectory changed, and she swapped her minor to Bio with the idea of pursuing work in medical visualization. (medical visualization is the process of exploring, transforming, and viewing data as images to gain understanding and insight into the data, which requires fast interactive speed and high image quality.”)
Her current focus is web and graphic design. “I code using HTML, CSS, and a wee bit of JavaScript nearly every day at work. I also use a ton of Adobe programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and more.” She said, “My high school class, which I thought would not affect me at all after graduation, actually helped me get to where I am now. People look at the fact that you've been coding since X grade. People look and like that you have X certifications. Many people do not know how to code so by having this skill, you make yourself more valuable to employers. But not only are you valuable to employers but also to yourself. You can really do anything if you know how to code.”
In college, she was afforded some great opportunities to use her coding. Dahia says Dev Catalyst gave her a headstart on programming “that put me ahead of my classmates in college which then put me ahead of many candidates once I graduated.” In a competitive job market, anything to get you ahead is a win. When she originally was thinking she would pursue medical visualization, her professors at Bradley recommended her an internship with JUMP simulation. She and a few others worked together to build an app that helps parents or caregivers learn how to use ventilators for their children. You can find it on the app store here.
I asked Dahia what she would tell a student who is considering coding classes in high school, and she told me “It's a lot like learning a new language, but once you get it, you'll feel so proud of yourself.” The possibilities are endless, “You can build apps. You can build games. You can make amazing computer programs that can put people on Mars. Or you can make silly things like unbeatable captchas that only show pictures of Brendan Fraiser.” Dahia feels that the DevCat program was “one of the most useful classes I've ever taken in high school,” and that many of the skills she learned then she is still using today.
You can connect with Dahia and stay up to date on her current ventures through her LinkedIn.