Add dev testimonials (#612)

* added old testimonials

src/data/blogs/my-journey-launching-jets-to-helping-businesses-take-off.md

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+---
+
+title: "My Journey: Launching Jets to Helping Businesses Take Off"
+postedAt: "2019-06-13T10:00:00.000Z"
+author: "Brad Hankee"
+description: "From launching jets in the Air Force to launching careers in tech, a veteran's journey through Vets Who Code."
+image: { src: "https://res.cloudinary.com/vetswhocode/image/upload/v1721217567/brad-hankee_hpcklm.avif" }
+category: "Career Journey"
+tags:
+    - javascript
+    - vetswhocode
+    - veterans
+is_featured: true
+views: 0
+
+---
+
+### My Journey: Launching Jets to Helping Businesses Take Off
+
+Often I am asked about my transition from active duty Air Force to front-end developer. Today I will tie this in with another question I am frequently asked: why do we need programming bootcamps since there is so much free and cheap educational content available today?
+
+My journey started while being stationed in Germany. I started tinkering with some HTML and CSS files and quickly showed off my red box and blue circle I was able to display in the browser to my wife. She was really excited to say the least 😆.
+
+With the complexity seen in modern websites and web applications today, I knew I needed to learn an actual programming language to add functionality to websites. So I ran a Google search thinking a clear answer would be right there at the top of the results… but no 🤷‍♂. Every developer, every person that knew what code is seemed to have a very strong opinion on how to get started. Python sounded good to me, and within a few weeks I had worked my way through Learn Python the Hard Way and felt pretty good about where my skills were going. After I was done, I knew some basics and made some cool games, but still had questions like …
+
+"How do I take this language and tie it into a website?"
+
+Having some cool skills but the inability to tie them together to actually create anything, I took a break until I moved back to the States about 6 months later. Being a fan of podcasts, I stumbled onto one about programming and learned about this bootcamp for vets, VetsWhoCode, that sounded promising.
+
+This is where my real development journey began. VetsWhoCode gave me a roadmap to transition into my new career. They didn't only provide the quality instruction and direct me to the resources that the top performers in our profession are utilizing, but they also bring you into an ecosystem of real working developers who make sure they communicate the tools and skills needed to break into the development world with more than just knowing the basic coding skills.
+
+It's one thing to know how to code in JavaScript or connect to a database to store secure data, but the professionals also depend on more essentials such as tooling, build processes, and how to effectively work with seasoned developers so an effective workflow is maintained in a company. Often overlooked in some bootcamps, this is front and center as a VetsWhoCode student, giving a much-needed edge 🔪 while interviewing for that first job.
+
+So by now you may be thinking it must be nice to have the time to do this and learn a valuable skill without life getting in the way, right? Even though I transitioned out, my wife is still active duty which means me, as the spouse, is expected to pick up pretty much everything family related if and when my wife has training, deploys, or whatever the military can throw our way. Add to that an amazing 4-year-old son who, as a normal boy, gets into trouble every 5 minutes.
+
+We end up getting our base of choice in Virginia and get excited to purchase our first home. We drive up to VA and find a home and return to Florida excited with all cylinders firing and life is great when… we find out my wife has cancer. To say this stopped us in our tracks and caught us off guard is an understatement.
+
+Still moving to VA? No one knows.
+
+Have support for medical appointments, etc.? Closest family is 1500 miles away.
+
+But the military can show its true colors and shine when adversity hits home and we had officers from various branches communicating and making sure my wife was getting the best medical care while still making sure our base of choice was secured for our future.
+
+Prioritizing being a caregiver, making sure to transfer my son into a new school while at the same time networking to find my first development job proved to be a full-time job. Having an amazing wife who made sure I would not back away from this because of this challenge proves that having a support system in place and not having an option to give up is for sure the secret sauce for anything in life.
+
+As a fresh VetsWhoCode grad, I proved myself to be able to tutor other bootcamp students at other bootcamps and honed my instructional skills with over 500 hours.
+
+Wanting a job that I could help build user-facing products, I went to a company that builds software utilized by multinational companies. It was an easy answer when I was given the opportunity to give back and devote personal time instructing students with VetsWhoCode. After all, sharing quality information and growing each other's skills is the best way to stay ahead in the technology and make companies that change the world 🌎.

src/data/blogs/testimonial-finding-vets-who-code.md

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+---
+
+title: "Finding Vets Who Code"
+postedAt: "2019-07-08T10:00:00.000Z"
+author: "Jacob Oakley"
+description: "Discovering how Vets Who Code transformed my journey into web development."
+image: { src: "https://res.cloudinary.com/vetswhocode/image/upload/v1721215701/jacob_oakley_s4vzb0.jpg" }
+category: "Career Journey"
+tags:
+    - Web Development
+    - Career
+    - Vets Who Code
+is_featured: true
+views: 200
+
+---
+
+### Finding Vets Who Code
+
+When I started my journey into Web Development, it began like many others, with a simple Google search, “How to become a Web Developer.” Google instantly returned my query with millions of results in about half a second. I knew shortly after that I needed guidance to navigate the scores of languages, career paths, and resources. Having a military background led me to seek out others with the same values and work ethic as me, inevitably leading me to Vets Who Code. I submitted my application and completed the pre-work. Shortly after, I was accepted into the program, but not all was sunshine and rainbows from there.
+
+I did the work, but things just weren’t clicking. Any other organization would have dragged me along behind them until I got through and sent me on my way. But the leaders at Vets Who Code sat me down and had a blunt conversation with me, the kind of honest, kick-in-the-butt conversation that only comes from people close to you, like friends you have had for years or family. Basically, I was told the work I was doing wasn’t cutting it and I needed to change something and change it fast.
+
+As soon as that conversation was over, I was back at it, studying, watching videos, listening to those in the industry, and most importantly, doing. Eventually, I graduated from the program and got my first developer job as a Mid-Level Frontend Web Developer.
+
+Without Vets Who Code taking the time to not only teach me how to code, but also teach me how to learn, I could have been stuck in the realm of mediocrity.

src/data/blogs/vets-who-code-servicing-tech-opportunities-to-those-who-served.md

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+---
+
+title: "Vets Who Code — Servicing Tech Opportunities to Those Who Served"
+postedAt: "2019-07-03T10:00:00.000Z"
+author: "Phil Tenteromano"
+description: "How Vets Who Code helped transform my transition from the military to a successful tech career."
+image: { src: "https://res.cloudinary.com/vetswhocode/image/upload/w_1000,ar_16:9,c_fill,g_auto,e_sharpen/v1721216841/phil_mznw7l.avif" }
+category: "Career Journey"
+tags:
+    - veterans
+    - career
+    - javascript
+    - webdev
+is_featured: true
+views: 0
+
+---
+
+### Vets Who Code — Servicing Tech Opportunities to Those Who Served
+
+When I was separating from the US Army in 2016, I thought I had my future all figured out. I was ready to take on new challenges — I had been accepted to my dream school in NYC, I was going to be surrounded by an incredible family support system, and I had my sights aimed at the tech industry.
+
+I was lucky enough to have a pretty decent transition; 10 days after my separation date, I was in the classroom, solving discrete mathematics problems. “I’m a veteran, I’m adapting to the classroom well, and I’m going into a lucrative industry — I’m set!”, I would say to myself.
+
+I was naive enough to think that showing up to class and doing well in academia was going to be a golden ticket in the competitive private sector. Unfortunately, that’s not how it was. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I first went out applying for internships; I started off the search process thinking employers would hear me say “I know C++,” and they would be throwing offers at me.
+
+#### Sums up my initial job search
+
+Boy, was I wrong. I got a ton of advice from an alumni network, my mentor, and my colleagues who had gone through the tech-ringer before — do projects, do practical work, do something outside of the classroom that shows off your skills. It all started to click, and a fire burned inside of me to get after it and do more.
+
+### Learning as a Lifestyle
+
+College was great, but it was a lot of theory. There were projects sure, but not enough — or at least, not individualized to where I can really show it off and impress employers. So I first started going out and learning on Udemy, practicing algorithms on hackerrank, and just doing more in my free time.
+
+It was fine at first, but after a while, I felt a little lost. It was unstructured, clunky, and just overall inefficient. I had a few veteran friends at school and we discussed how being a veteran could help us in the real world. One of the things we really noticed was a lack of veteran communities in our respective fields — it felt lonely. It especially felt lonely after spending years as a soldier surrounded by other soldiers near 24/7. This gave me an idea to start looking for veteran-tech groups that could satisfy that need for camaraderie — except now as soldiers and developers.
+
+### Finding Vets Who Code
+
+I came across Vets Who Code in the Summer of 2018 after some online digging and I really was intrigued. Firstly, they had a vetting process (no pun intended); they wanted some proof of basic knowledge in the field, a “prework” exercise that displayed not only skill level, but also a willingness to commit.
+
+Now, Vets Who Code, or VWC, wasn’t just vetting people to be a part of some exclusive chat group or something like that. They were providing free training to those veterans who went out and did the prework, thus showing their drive and their commitment. This training would last about 16–18 weeks, would meet via Slack or video calls 3–4 nights a week, and teach some of the most popular frameworks and technologies being used in the industry.
+
+I was sold. I reached out and let them know my background and why I wanted to be there. Jerome Hardaway got back to me and asked me to provide that golden ticket (the prework). I had created a website earlier in the year, but it was a GitHub Pull Request on their repository that really caught their eye. It was a gratifying experience just to be accepted and engage in a new chapter of learning. It was really exciting to be with other veterans, in a community focused on the tech industry.
+
+My training cohort ran for 17 weeks during the Fall of 2018, while I also maintained a full-time school schedule. The VWC cohort really set the tone by giving us hands-on practice and guidance to understand frameworks like React and Express, while exposing us to real-world industry experience. This again, all coming from fellow veterans. I just wasn’t getting that kind of utility out of school (academia can be real bubble).
+
+So on top of the theory I was getting in the classroom, I was taking online classes with VWC and learning about all the nuanced topics of the industry. We were coding non-stop; our instructor, Brad Hankee, did an incredible job of keeping myself and the other veterans in the cohort engaged and challenged all at the same time. Even with my CS background, the cohort was able to be individualized enough to give each veteran a chance at breaking the mold and feeling confident about entering the tech space.
+
+### Hard Work → Reward
+
+VWC’s cohort focused a lot on the JavaScript language, and rightfully so, as it is pretty much the most widely used language in the industry. That right there did so much for me — I had barely even written a line of JavaScript before that (and as a CS major!?).
+
+Before VWC, I had struggled so hard to find an internship. The summer before I started the cohort, I had settled on an internship with a just-seeded startup with almost no money to spare, and more importantly, no mentorship. It wasn’t a great experience.
+
+I finished the VWC cohort in December of 2018 and I knew it was about time to start applying for internships.
+
+Let me say this: I had two offers by January from prestigious companies.
+
+I was ecstatic to hear that good news. To put this in perspective, those offers came after I applied to maybe 5% of my total applications the year before. If that doesn’t speak volumes about what VWC does, I don’t know what does.
+
+But wait — there's more! VWC doesn’t just offer this free training and send you on your way. It’s a community of veterans; after my cohort ended, I felt empowered and only wanted more of something like this. I am 100% an active member of the community and communicate daily in the Slack channel.
+
+After my offers, Jerome asked me to contribute to teaching in the next cohort. I was given two weeks of teaching an expanded ‘Computer Science’ curriculum that wasn’t fleshed out as much in previous cohorts. Excited and honored, I said yes — I considered it a great way to give back to my fellow veterans and to VWC.
+
+Overall, Vets Who Code was an absolute catalyst to get me out of a slump and propel me to greater heights. It doesn’t matter the extent of technological background either; every single veteran is welcome. We only ask one thing — drive and commitment. Learning to code is a challenging road, but veterans are used to challenging roads. Whether you’re a veteran who has never written a line of code or you’ve been working at Google, we would love to have you on board and help you reach your potential.

src/data/blogs/vetswhocode-makes-be-better.md

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+---
+
+title: "VetsWhoCode Makes Me Better"
+postedAt: "2019-07-15T10:00:00.000Z"
+author: "Carla Kroll"
+description: "How VetsWhoCode transformed my journey from an Air Force mechanic to a successful frontend developer."
+image: { src: "https://res.cloudinary.com/vetswhocode/image/upload/w_1000,ar_16:9,c_fill,g_auto,e_sharpen/v1721218265/carla-kroll_mojy9c.jpg" }
+category: "Career Journey"
+tags:
+    - vetswhocode
+    - frontend
+    - ux
+is_featured: true
+views: 0
+
+---
+
+### VetsWhoCode Makes Me Better
+
+A few years back I was listening to a podcast. The guest that day was Jerome Hardaway, and he was discussing #VetsWhoCode, a non-profit that wanted to help veterans learn to become frontend devs and have a community to discuss and grow with. I am an Air Force veteran that worked as a mechanic and knew nothing at all of code.
+
+When I left the military, I knew I wanted to do something with computers, but wasn't sure what that would be. When I found #VetsWhoCode, I was an aspiring developer in a small town thinking, wow, that sounds like a great opportunity to learn! I looked up the organization and applied that day.
+
+The course was great! I laughed, I learned, I got mad, I got excited...then mad again. But in the end, I've developed skills that have helped me become a successful frontend developer in Chicago and have found a group of people in VWC that understand me, and we really work and grow together better than anything I could have imagined. I finished my cohort over 2 years ago, but there is rarely a day that I don't check in to see how things are going. Many of us, including myself, still contribute to the VWC in some way. Currently, I am in the process of becoming the CDO of VetsWhoCode.
+
+If you are a veteran, I would recommend applying to become a part of this community. It's a lot of work, but if you put in the time and effort, it's worth it. And, hey, if you apply and don't get in the first time, apply to the next cohort. Persistence pays off.