Welcome to our first Software Engineering cohort!

They are about to start an incredible journey

Over 14 intensive weeks our inaugural cohort will immerse themselves in a learning experience that will constantly demand more of their growing technical skills, satiate their intellectual curiosity, and, most importantly, help them become software engineers ready to contribute. And if that’s not ample, over the next two years we’ll support their learning and development to produce tomorrow’s leaders.

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of helping many, many people like them achieve similar goals, but the thing that’s special about this cohort at Digital Futures is our purpose. We are aiming for the sky. We want the diversity of tech teams to represent society. We’ve made our application process as inclusive as possible, sourcing from and striving to give opportunities to those under-represented in tech.

The result? Each student in this cohort has been selected from hundreds of applicants, each student has an incredible rich story, and each a pioneering mentality. They defined themselves as Pakistani, White, Arab, Asian, African, Caribbean, British and more. They are almost to the digit 50% women. It makes me proud to be leading this cohort.

For those in the cohort or thinking of embarking on such a journey, here are two pieces of advice:

If you let them, intensive learning experiences will change you for the better. They are purposefully challenging. It’s very likely you haven’t experienced anything like this. So, more than wait for it to change you, take responsibility to own and accelerate this change. The most successful students don’t just think of themselves as students of software engineering but they go one more step: they think of themselves as students of learning first and foremost. They know instinctively that the more skilled you are at learning, the more rapidly you’ll achieve your goals.

So, embody a beginner’s persistent, curious, self-directing, growth mindset from the start and you’ll be surprised how rapidly you’ll also identify as a student of learning and, in turn, how rapidly you’ll learn how to be a software engineer.

The second piece of advice? Have fun!

I’m excited to see what they become!