Name: Noah Biggs

What Location do you teach at and for how long?
I teach remotely at Red Rock Correctional facility in Eloy, AZ, and I’ve been with Persevere for approx. 1 year and 4 months.

Where are you from originally?
I am from and currently live in the greater Chicago-land area.

Where did you learn coding?
I’ve been interacting directly with plaintext code since a young kid, but never anything beyond script-kiddie level activities – until I was old enough to learn HTML via MySpace (Thanks Tom!), which was the beginning of my development journey. All these years later and I’ve continued that journey, attending Coding Dojo in Chicago to formalize my knowledge with a certificate, and since then have been completing OSSU (Open Source Society University) undergrade Computer Science degree, to fill the knowledge gaps independently & open-source.

What is your favorite thing about coding?
The entire engineering experience is my favorite part of coding. Coding is just the act of writing computer code, but programming – solving real-world problems with computer science and code – is my favorite part.

What is the hardest thing about coding?
I think for most, the hardest part of coding is trying to fully understand what tools you have available to you, and how to approach/breakdown a problem, with said tools, in a methodical way to achieve goal after goal, that slowly brings you closer to your desired & particular outcome.

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
For me, the best part about teaching is watching students connect the dots and not only grow into proficient developers in front of your eyes, but helping them cultivate and grow this new-found passion as it relates to code, development, tech, or anything else is really the most rewarding part.