JavaUnscripted
What new activities did you engage in during the first-wave of working from home? Have you returned to the workplace? During my lengthy stay working out of my home, I tuned into various podcasts, which up till then was completely new to me. I have listened to everything from comic book related podcasts, to real-life (sometimes scary) story retelling podcasts. What I learned while listening to these podcasts was the style of the podcast I like. I appreciate engaging stories, sometimes without a structured script that invites members in that community to tell their stories and bring new ideas to light.
I started looking for co-hosts, preferably some of my friends, to join me on this journey. I wanted to incorporate a mix of personalities from individuals that like me, were currently enrolled in the same software engineering bootcamp (Codesmith). I knew we had to sync, we had to be able to hold a conversation with ease and ultimately keep the listeners attention. Flow was important. Luckily, Charlie and Sam we’re kind enough to embark on this podcast series with me! As far as flow is concerned — we got it! Our visions aligned, our motivation grew, and we ultimately brought JavaUnscripted to life (it also helped that Charlie was already an audio engineer well versed in producing podcasts). But why these two individuals amongst all others? What worked about the connection we made? I will share some insight I know about them and let you be the judge.
Charlie Malave
I was born the same year the original Game Boy came out, Intel released the 80486 microprocessor and Apple changed the game with the Macintosh Portable. I’m dating myself a bit, but I say this all because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching technology grow, while I grew into a functioning human being alongside it. It’s insane when you think about it! I’ve always had nerd mode enabled from an early age, from gaming, to building PCs, to being the IT person in my family. My love for technology and music led me along the path of becoming an Audio Engineer, and while that’s been awesome, I knew it was time to grow myself beyond that and becoming a software engineer (although it seemed impossible at the time) was my next move. My research ultimately led me to the Codesmith immersive engineering program, which so far has exceeded all expectations — and I’m not even talking about technology savviness when it comes to programming. I’m talking about the amazing people I’ve met and the incredible stories I’ve heard along this journey. This led me to jumping on board immediately when the idea of giving back to the software engineering community by way of a podcast (the future of audio media) came my way. My motto is “let’s create something awesome!” — Let’s create programs, apps, creative content, communities, movements and ANYTHING that builds us up collectively.
Sam Arnold
Legos are my jam. I built classic cars with my grandfather and have built/rebuilt computers for my family. Weirdly, I went to school to study how to build characters and stories. As an actor I always put the audience at the forefront and, it was through a “support job” that I was introduced to coding. And now I’m learning how my passion for delivering amazing, story driven experiences, translates seamlessly to the engineering space. And I get to exercise my builder brain too :)
Eric Saldivar
So I didn’t want to write about myself but I will just wrap myself in a nutshell. I am a father of twins (a boy and a girl), husband to an infinitely talented, beautiful, and understanding woman (I just got my keyboard back!), a teacher, a veteran, and a self-proclaimed video gamer professional. I joined the Codesmith during the middle of the pandemic and I fell in love with software development. I love to share authenticate stories on our podcast, interview our guests, and talk trash to my cohosts. I take inspiration for the podcast from shows about nothing such as Seinfield and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (I love to maintain a healthy level of trash talking amongst our hosts and guests). One of the most powerful quotes that has carried me is from Cowboy Bebop “Whatever happens, happens.”
Our guests
We love to engage with everyone and anyone that has a story to share and who needs a platform to share their voice. We believe software engineering is for everyone, so it follows that we want to host a variety of people on JavaUnscripted. Some of our previous guests came from the following backgrounds:
- Teacher
- Veteran
- Immigrant
- Musician
- Entrepreneur
- Ordained Monk
- Actor
- Father
- Tax Consultant
This list goes on, and we hope to keep it growing.
If you’re someone who has an engaging backstory about what propelled you toward the path of becoming a software engineer, we want to hear from you. Email us here javaunscripted@gmail.com or follow us/message us on Twitter
We have hosted Codesmith alumni, professional software engineers, engineering instructors, and have some surprise guests in the works! We plan to continue past the completion of our time together at Codesmith. We hope to hear from you!
Our Message
JavaUnscripted is our privilege to host. We want to create content that makes the path towards software engineering less intimidating. No one needs to do this alone. Let us give you some unsolicited advice and hopefully a few laughs. Whatever you need, we got you. Let’s do this together.Let me leave you with the opening to our podcast.
JavaUnscripted is a podcast made by people from all walks of life on their developmental journey… to develop. We will celebrate wins, talk through losses. Interview friends. And if there is time, talk a little tech. We focus on the journey, not the destination and hopefully catch any errors along the way.
If you like what you’ve read, reach out or lend us your ears for a listen! You might gain some gems of insight that you never even considered.
Take care of yourself,
JavaUnscripted
