“According to my programmer father, it’s a basic requirement to be able to install Windows. Girls have to know this, too. We got a computer early on and I grew up this way. I was a 10th grader in high school in Canada, where schools are amazing and we created Excel files during math lessons. However, homesickness got the better of me and I came back after a year. Shortly after that, I began my studies at the Teacher and Nursery School Teacher Training College of ELTE. Once I completed my studies, I was enchanted by a nursery school in District X, along with its name: Wonderspider. I called them up and asked if I could complete my 8-week practical training with them. They took me on. I graduated as an English-language nursery school teacher, so my next move was to a private nursery school in District II, where I tended to the little ones in English. I had my greatest educational and community experience at a nursery school in Pomáz. However, I couldn’t make ends meet with my salary, and I was always looking for some extra work. This made me increasingly exhausted and hopeless. In the summer of 2016, I started seeking out coding websites and was thinking about doing an online course. That’s when I first contacted Green Fox and went to an open day event and subscribed to their newsletter. As I was preparing my nursery-school teacher portfolio, I felt the growing need to make a change for financial reasons. Then suddenly they cancelled the lease on the apartment I rented and I got an email from Green Fox that if I apply by 8 December, I’ll find out whether they hired me by Christmas... I knew that I had to make a move. It felt like this was the way it had to be.”

Fanni was notified of her successful admission by Christmas and she told her nursery school that she was heading back to school in March. They accepted the decision at her workplace, but of course, some of the kids bid Fanni farewell with the following words: “I won’t do what anyone tells me to do, only you, so you can’t leave!”

“Finally, I moved home in March and my family helped me out. I knew it was going to be a big change, but that didn’t stop me. However, when the Green Fox training began, it was very hard at first, because she missed the kids and was odd to sit in front of a computer all day long. I wanted to do well and was afraid I would lag behind. I didn’t know at the time that there was no need to worry, because we formed such a great community and everyone was really bright and helpful. Sometimes we stayed at class until 8-9 at night and we didn’t have a lot of free time – but it was worth the effort. I already had a defining experience on the first day and we got to know each other in minutes, which made it easier to focus on studying and helping each other out. This system is really well-designed, along with the mentors, as we needed their help to get to this point. For me, the greatest experience were the demos on Friday, when we could present the things we learned. After a while, I started making stories out of code. For example, this is how it started: Someone stole some code from Python God, please help me find it! It felt great to bring a smile to their tired faces! Just like the beginning, the end of the training was also difficult, particularly because I wanted to get back to adult life – and start working and earning money again.

We passed our exams at the end of June and I started working at the new workplace that Green Fox found for me from September, Inter-Mikrum Kft, where I was their first female employee! I felt lucky to continue programming in a supportive atmosphere and I am currently really enjoying my work. Most people are Java developers at the firm, so it feels great when they sometimes ask me to help them out with JavaScript code. It feels great to help!

I definitely want to keep on focusing on programming for the next two to three years and then go back to the kids later on. Perhaps by teaching them programming skills. I might even work with high schoolers! I’ve been looking at the volunteer options and who knows, I might even try myself as a mentor at Green Fox. Yet for the time being, I’ll keep on playing the role of Fanni the Clown from time to time, painting faces and making balloon animals, because I really miss the kids."