‘I was amazed at what I could do:’ From Software Engineer to Teaching Coding Class, El Centro Graduate Guadalupe Continues to Grow Every Day

This is Part III of an ongoing series highlighting Catholic Charities Boston’s growing IT and Cybersecurity programs, in light of September being Workforce Development Month.

For some students, Catholic Charities Boston’s El Centro Adult Education Center provides a direct pathway into careers that they’ve dreamt of pursuing since childhood. For others, it is a place to discover new skills and dive into areas of opportunity they may have never imagined.

Guadalupe, who not only graduated from El Centro’s coding class, but is now teaching the course, is a testament to this. Having worked as a software engineer in Mexico before immigrating to the U.S. with her family in 2020, Guadalupe never expected she would find her calling in teaching.

With no English fluency, she struggled to break back into the software engineering field in the U.S. It wasn’t until she enrolled in both El Centro’s ESOL and coding classes, she said, that she began to feel hopeful about returning to her field of work.

As her English skills grew stronger, Guadalupe said she was able to utilize her background in software engineering more and more. Soon enough, her fellow classmates were reaching out with questions about the material.

“It felt so good to be able to help other students in the class,” she said. “Eventually, one of my classmates said, ‘Why don’t you teach? You explain concepts so well.”

After that, Guadalupe began volunteering as a TA for the coding class before eventually being invited to become a full-time instructor.

“I was amazed at what I could do,” she said. “I never knew I loved teaching.”

Looking toward the future, Guadalupe aspires to find a part-time position within the IT industry, giving her the opportunity to continue pursuing her passions for both teaching and software engineering.

“When it comes to technology, there is always something new to learn,” she said. “I’ve found that there are always new ways to grow.”

To read more about Catholic Charities Boston’s Workforce Development programs, click here.

To find out how you can support Catholic Charities’ students and clients in need, visit our Ways to Give page.