Shannon Faucett
Bio
“My name is Shannon Faucett. I am Kansas born and bred, and originally studied mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!), which is where I had my first encounter with programming… I wish I had recognized it then as love-at-first-sight. If I could go back and tell myself to switch over to computer science, I would. I instead had hopes at the time of eventually pursuing biomechanical engineering, but upon graduation opted for employment rather than grad school. In an effort to stay within the healthcare realm, I spent two years at Cerner as a system engineer for HL7 clinical interfaces within the consulting organization, where I again found myself learning (and loving) aspects of programming. My favorite component of my job was using Cerner’s proprietary scripting language to manipulate data and interact with the relational database. I learned (daily) about healthcare, consulting, technology, and the unique challenge of working within the intersection of those three things. I also learned how to take advantage of Southwest’s frequent flyer points! I spent a year and a half traveling twice a month to a client in Salt Lake City, where I spent my evening hours hiking and soaking up the mountains that I wish we had in Kansas City.”
Q&A
Q: Why did you decide to come to Centriq?
A: I reached a point in time where I felt confident that the pull I was feeling toward the technical side of my job wasn’t just a half-hearted desire for change or a byproduct of an exhausting few months working with a tough client. I knew I wanted to go deeper in my knowledge and understanding of programming and development, but needed to identify when/where/how. The first “road sign” came when I heard about coding bootcamps. I began looking at various programs around the country and ultimately found Centriq, which became the obvious choice for me when I realized it was in Kansas City. Centriq’s corporate training also helped me trust in its reputation with companies here in town and in the training we’d be receiving.
Q: What class has been your favorite so far?
A: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed learning client-side programming, I think maybe it was just refreshing to use the right side of my brain for the first time in a while! But my favorite has definitely been the two weeks of MVC that we’ve had so far and getting to tie together everything we’ve learned to this point. I feel like my knowledge prior to these two weeks was so fragmented, I was familiar with databases from my previous job and I knew the basic concepts of procedural programming, but I am starting to realize just how much more exists beyond that.
Q: What do you hope to do after Centriq?
A: My hope is to be part of a development team who is as passionate about what they do (individually and collectively) as they are good at it. I wouldn’t consider myself a vocally passionate person (other than maybe occasionally for KU basketball), but I am definitely inspired by the passion of people around me. My humble opinion is that we all spend too many hours at work to spend them doing something we don’t enjoy or care about. I hope to be part of a group of people whose authentic hard work pushes each other to be better and who strive to continually learn and share.
Q: What other interests do you have?
A: For as much as I love technology, I also equally enjoy time away from technology, exercise, anything outdoors, travel, friends and family (including our yellow Labrador), music, time spent at the Lake of the Ozarks, KU basketball, visiting wineries and breweries, volunteering. If I had infinite time in the world, I would learn how to play the guitar, remix music, and take every Home Depot fixer-upper type class.