Your Django Story: Meet Cassidy Lamb
This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.
Cassidy Lamb grew up in El Paso, TX and moved to Austin in 1997 to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where she received a BA in Biology. For the last five years she’s managed the Software Developer Training Program at the University of Texas at Austin, a six month program where trainees learn to write software that supports the business of the university. Recently, Cassidy accepted a position to manage a small team of developers on campus, where she also does some programming work. She’s excited to be getting back into coding!
How did your story with code start?
After graduating from college, I taught high school science at Anderson High School in Northwest Austin for four years before beginning my career at the university as a trainee in the aforementioned Software Developer Training Program. When I recruit new folks into our training program I share that programming was never something I considered to be an option, but when I started in the training program in 2006 it felt like I’d finally discovered what my life’s work would be.
What did you do before becoming a programmer?
When I was growing up, programming is something that I never even considered to be possible for me. I just didn’t fit into the typical nerdy-dude-hacker stereotype that existed when I was in school. In college I studied Biology and worked in a research lab. After graduation I stayed in Austin to teach high school science for a few years, and when I decided to try something new my running coach at the time recommended I also look in to the Software Developer Training Program. I figured “why not?” and applied to the program, was accepted, and have enjoyed working at the university ever since.
What do you love the most about coding?
I love debugging code. For many it’s not the most fun part of the work, but I think my background in science really helps me think about how to isolate conditions, test hypotheses, and push for solutions. I love the investigative nature of hunting down an answer to a problem. Every time I fix a bug it makes me feel like a superhero who just put the bad guys behind bars.
Why Django?
In 2008 the university determined that Python would be the language of choice for building applications that support the business of the university. I’d only been a programmer for a couple years, but was very excited when I asked to join the team of campus developers that would determine the best web development framework for us to use. This was back in the early days of Django, and there a number of other frameworks we considered. Even though Django was relatively new, it was hands down the best option for our needs on campus. Django is easy to learn, easy to use, and has a great community of support. I’ll always appreciate the opportunity to work on that assessment project and to have helped make such an important selection for our community of developers.
What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?
I’ve loved my time recruiting and training new staff, but am thrilled to get back into the world of software development. My new team is a group of developers that contracts with other departments at the university to build software for them. I’m looking forward to the variety of projects and customers we’ll be working with.
What are you most proud of?
I’m very proud to have written the first centrally deployed Django application at the university. This particular success is a nice feather in my cap, sure, but these days my pride extends beyond a programming accomplishment, because I recently had a daughter. It’s comforting to me that she’ll grow up knowing women are smart enough and strong enough to be the first to achieve specific milestones in any discipline. I hope she’ll never have to wonder if she’s good enough to be a great programmer, or combat any of stereotypes that existed when I was a kid.
What are you curious about?
So many things! I love learning and reading about how the human mind works, how societies are built, behavior patterns, space exploration, and food. The moments that I’ve been the best teacher, role model, or mentor are the ones in which I’m eager to learn, change, and grow.
What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?
I have been involved for several years in writing, performing, and helping produce local comedy shows and the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin. In June my husband and I had our first child, and watching her grow and learn is such a joy. I also enjoy running, yoga, swimming, cooking, and anything involving the outdoors.
Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?
I’ve recruited and worked with hundreds of new programmers over the years. In my experience, good programmers have great analytical skills and can write code well. But, the great programmers are those that are tenacious, accept feedback well, and are always willing to learn something new.
Thank you so much, Cassidy!
If you would like to suggest someone to be featured in the Your Django Story series (or would like to nominate yourself!), please email us at story@djangogirls.org!
