From the Army to software: the journey of Exenia, now teaching coding to future developers

Exenia, 29 years old and from Southern Italy, worked for years in the Navy. When the pandemic starts, she decides to reinvent herself thanks to digital skills

Digital can change lives. There are many success stories of people who - thanks to studies or up-skilling courses - have found work, relocated, changed jobs.

At 29, Exenia has collected many different experiences in her curriculum: from the Navy to historical libraries, passing through museums. Today she works as a front-end developer and tutor at Develhope, an Italian coding school which aims to develop human capital in 6 months through an inclusive and innovative model.
But how did she get there? After getting her diploma in classical studies, Exenia worked as a lifeguard in summer: «In 2013 - she says - I decided to enroll as a volunteer in the Army: for the first two years I worked on ships. We worked with Operation Smile and the Rava Foundation to offer medical assistance to African children with health problems. We sailed along the African coasts for 6 months, it was a wonderful experience!»

“You only pay the cost of the course if you find a job”

When the volunteering experience ended, Exenia began working in Northern Italy in a Library or museums. «In 2020 the pandemic broke out and job opportunities in Southern Italy have decreased more and more. I stopped to think about what I could do: I’m passionate about video games and programming, so I said Why not? I didn't think a person with a humanities background would make it. But, even though I had no money at that time, I found Develhope, which allows students to attend the course and pay in installments only if they find a job at the end. So I took a 6-month course and became a front-end developer». After the training, the Develhope Team itself offered her to work on some internal development projects, and later she also became tutor of the School.
The most interesting thing is that Exenia keeps studying while working at Develhope, to specialize in new programming languages and frameworks and open new horizons.