When I was a performance marketing graduate at Publicis Media, the SEO department ran a coding competition.
We were given microbits and asked to either create a game or learning resource (https://microbit.org/).
We had the option of two methods:
- Use the Microsoft Make Code software
- Use Python code
I was the only person to use Python as I was casually learning it on Codeacademy and wanted to challenge myself.
I decided to make a German learning tool. If you press the button on the microbit, it will cycle through different German phrases on the LED display, as well as play the audio of the phrase through headphones (which were connected to the microbit with crocodile clips).
I had a very basic knowledge of Python and did a lot of research and managed to find the appropriate speech package. I essentially knew I would use an if statement, the rest was just figuring out how to implement it. For example, figuring how to write "Entschuldigen Sie" in phonetics which was a hilarious experience!
I named the project "Bernie the Austro-Bot" after my friend Bernie who is from and lives in Austria.
When I showed the project to the judge, he said I had the winning project and I was awarded a trophy.
Afterwards, the judge took me to one side and said that I should be working in coding, not marketing. I foolishly dismiss this due to fear of changing careers (even though I was just a graduate).
It wasn't until the summer of 2023 that I felt brave enough and changed careers to software developement.
I only wish I started sooner!
Cheers, Darrell