Mission to Mars has been a program that has helped us engage with beginners and students alike and offer a realistic look at Software Development. Since then, Mission to Mars has Alumni which is a scary thought. We thought we’d take a look at the some of the stories and what they’ve taken from the experience.
One of the things we always hear about in the feedback is how much people get out of the experience, through knowledge, teamwork, and most importantly, connections. It’s strange, when you work with Year 10s, that they learn the value of connections so young, and as a result of maintaining connections, we’ve gone back to speak to the Alumni of Mission to Mars.
After cultivating curiosity among so many, we’ll highlight just some of the many success stories that we’ve had from our work experiences and where they’ve gone, and where they look to be heading in the future.
Jordan Barkway
Jordan Barkway was one of the first Mission to Mars attendees and since the first one thrived ever since. Her first mission was 2014, but it has been 5 years since she has attended one of the missions as a participant/mentor.
Jordan learnt to keep a network around her, stating that “If it’s people who know tech or want to get into tech, they are a part of her connection circle.”
Since her Mission to Mars experience, Jordan became an Apprentice for two years, qualified and stayed on for two years and now works as a Developer for Symphony Retail AI, learning more about the industry and upcoming technology.
When asked what she learnt from Mission to Mars that she takes forward into work, she stated
“Being able to look at a story and breaking it down into smaller tasks was always something I struggled with but after M2M I found it easier to talk to colleagues about how to break down tasks into smaller parts!”
We asked Jordan what she would have been if she didn’t join that Mission to Mars work experience week, and she stated, “I think I would be a pastry chef! Or an astronaut? Maybe a firefighter? Or a teacher? Maybe a hairdresser? I’d have given everything a go until I found where I belong!”
Olly Enright
It’s been over three years since Olly took part in a Mission to Mars, February in 2019 as a student. Since then he’s kept in touch with people from the other teams, and event organisers as well as peers and friends he made from the event.
Since then he has been doing a university course where he expanded his understanding of technology and industry in Cornwall, attended networking events to expand his connections and mentored at various work experiences including Mission to Mars. He has volunteered at local events such as Agile on the Beach, Halfstack Newquay and at Geekfest, all on the back of interactions at Mission to Mars.
When asked about what lessons he took from Mission to Mars, he stated, “A lot of lessons have been learnt, the biggest one being teamwork. There’s an entire network of support from others in your groups, mentors and rival teams who will help to see you succeed.”
As well as “Active engagement is encouraged and being put into a position where being open, having strong communication and the ability to speak up when things don’t go well are key skills obtained from this experience.”
When asked where he would be if he hadn’t done Mission to Mars, he stated, “I feel like I would have ended up in the industry eventually, however Mission to Mars has helped me realise the opportunities are out there. It has shown me there are specialities in the industry I would enjoy doing and know there are others out there who do it too.”
He currently is working on a few Discord Bots, hosting and managing various video game servers and doing some website creation for local people. Alongside this, he is in the design phase for a light-up A-Z Alphabet wall from Stranger Things series.
Mansell Lane
Mansell Lane did Mission To Mars around five years ago with Penwith college. His team came back and even went head to head on the first Mission to Mars Professionals, competing with businesses in the development challenges.
Since then he has kept in touch with lots of people in the industry, mostly Tony Edwards who used to run the program, and always says hello at events!
Since Mission to Mars he worked in a cafe until head-hunted and was recommended to a company to be a Software Developer by someone who they did Mission to Mars with.
Whether he felt Mission to Mars helped him into his new role, Mansell said, “I feel like the M2M definitely helped with gathering ideas of a solution to create the best solution possible at the time. But it also helped a lot more when it came to debugging your issues in the manner you have to do!”
He also felt that if he hadn’t had done Mission to Mars that he’d be working in the cafe and heading towards a managerial position.
Emily Kershaw
Emily Kershaw last did their Mission to Mars about 3-4 years ago whilst attending secondary school, but didn’t know what to do afterwards. The choices were endless, but after keeping in contact with people from Mission to Mars, Software Cornwall and Hi9, Emily managed to find a pathway.
After Reaching out to Hi9, Emily gained an internship there after the initial meeting at Mission to Mars.
Taking lessons from Mission to Mars into the workplace has been helpful, stating that , “Teamwork, communication and learning how to overcome the challenge of things not working or having work being rejected are key lessons I’ve carried on into my job and current education.”
When asked what would you have done if you didn’t attend, Emily stated, “I think that I would still be into tech in some kind of way, but not with the opportunities and knowledge I have now”
And currently Emily has a few passion projects going on alongside the day to day work now at Hi9!
Liam Cornbill
It’s been four to five years since Liam Cornbill did Mission to Mars, and has kept in contact with lots of people since then. He’s been a mentor on the program a few times and since Mission to Mars, he started a freelance web development.
He started his own limited company and sells a SaaS product he made with a friend.
When asked what lessons he took from M2M that suits the work he does now, he stated “He was a fairly experienced programmer” before he did his mission, yet “Mission to Mars really helped me learn to work in a team, pair program, collaborate on code via git, etc, which is really important for a career in the industry.” He also stated he was “really shy as a kid” so working in a team actually helped him with that as well.
Speaking on where he’d be if he hadn’t done Mission to Mars, Liam stated:
“It’s hard to say what would have been if I had chosen another path but since M2M I’ve gone on to be in or even run teams of software engineers so the experience really helped me to have the skills to do that.”
He is currently working on some active projects, namely his SaaS automation/chatbot platform for Streamers and Discord Server owners called streamhydra.io
Future Missions
We are continuing our traditional Mission to Mars missions with colleges and as part of work experience week at schools. The next of which is October 24th – 28th 2022 Half Term Mission to Mars. Applications open.
We are also announcing and working on Mission to Mars Adult, which gives professionals and professional geeks alike – the opportunity to have a go and experience what potentially your kids have done and see whether they’ll hire you in the future. You can find more information by clicking here.
