Faye Bridge
writes on April 11, 2016
14-year-old Kyle was drawn to the endless opportunities to create and share on the web. In the 8th-grade he began to dive into coding and built a basic website, Study Central for his fellow students to share study guides. As the end of middle school approached, popularity for Study Central had grown. Kyle needed to expand his skills and elevate the website to meet the needs of high school students. Coincidently, that summer, Kyle’s older brother introduced him to Treehouse.
After applying his new coding skills to Study Central, Kyle was able to expand and improve the website before freshman year started. Today, students across his high school are relying on it as a study resource and Kyle is taking on his next challenge: marketing and customer acquisition.
We asked Kyle to share his inspiring story and plans for the future with the Treehouse Community.
I truly enjoyed every course I took on Treehouse. If it were not for Treehouse, I would not be where I am today.
What first drew you to the web industry?
I was first drawn to the web industry by the success of many major websites of the 21st century, including Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. The internet enables people to create what they desire and shares it with the world, which is exactly why nearly all successful internet companies have humble beginnings.
What were you doing when you first joined Treehouse & what encouraged you to learn with us?
I was first recommended to Treehouse by my older brother who had developed an Android application with the help of Treehouse courses. At the time, I was just finishing up my 8th-grade year in middle school and moving into summer. I was very excited to have so much free time to dive into my new subscription to Treehouse.
Since learning to code, you’ve launched your own website and company. Tell us a little about how these have evolved since learning with Treehouse and the work you’re doing now.
Before I had started Treehouse, I had been running a small website in the 8th grade which enabled students to create and share study guides with others, the site was very successful in my middle school. Although moving into high school I realized the level of difficulty that would come along with maintaining the website. I decided to use my Treehouse subscription to learn the skills I would need to improve the site using Databases, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. I recently launched the site in my own high school and it is going great, students in all classes talk about the site and use it to study for exams.
My CSS skills are not the greatest so don’t judge the design of the site but here is a link to the current build of the website: studycentral.papili.us.
What has the value of a Treehouse education meant to you?
Several websites exist for the purpose of teaching people how to code and program, but no other website compares to the vast Treehouse library of courses that guide you step-by-step through the process. I truly enjoyed every course I took on Treehouse. If it were not for Treehouse, I would not be where I am today.
What are your plans for the future, and what’s up next on your learning path?
Today, I am researching marketing and customer acquisition techniques in order to spread the word of my own business and increase my customer base. The website works nearly perfectly now, all I need to focus on now is spreading the word and marketing my startup! After the site gains popularity, I hope to create a mobile application for both Android and iOS that interact with the site.
When I was first learning to code, one of the most important things I did was ensure that I reserve a certain amount of time everyday to practice and improve upon my skills.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with new students who are just starting to learn to code?
When I was first learning to code, one of the most important things I did was ensure that I reserved a certain amount of time everyday to practice and improve upon my skills. I also put aside a PAPER notebook that I used to take notes on everything I was learning. It came in handy later as I was able to quickly refer back to it. In addition, if you are ever stuck on a problem, look to the community for help. The computer science community is one of the strongest online communities there is. Sites like Stack Overflow and the Community Forum built into Treehouse have helped me on numerous occasions when I thought I was stuck.
Ready to learn how to code? Sign up for a Free Trial with Treehouse and join one of our Learning Tracks today.
To read more inspiring student success stories, check out the Treehouse Stories Page.
Great post, thanks for sharing!