My name is Taneli and I am an engineering student from Centria. I worked last summer in the De Vaja 2 project. We created an app called Statsie for iOS and Android. I knew nothing about mobile app development before this summer, but with the help of other trainees and Livion developers, I learned quickly. My skills are now at a level where I can independently create an app for mobile.

Statsie is an application where the user can create events they want to track in their everyday life. For example, I can take a picture of a coffee cup and write the tag #drinkCoffee for it. Anytime you drink coffee you click on the event. Later you can see a variety of statistics about it, such as how many times the event has been completed, how much time has passed since the user last pressed it and how popular the event is within the community.

I heard about De Vaja Academy earlier this year when Jani Ylikangas from Livion visited Centria and told about the previous De Vaja project. It was a very interesting presentation and I decided to apply for the trainee team. The exercises found on the De Vaja website were challenging but instructive. I really recommend doing them! For me, this project was a big step in my career.

First of all, let’s make one thing straight. It isn’t just a birdhouse. It’s the most awesome birdhouse built so far! Come on, it communicates with a led screen face and stars in games as a side job. It might sound far-fetched for a coding school but i think it indicates well the open-mindedness that is needed for learning, for creativity to blossom and for anything new to be created. Secondly, it must give away that the mindset behind this academy cannot be too serious if the training happens around a birdhouse. Hardworking yes, but not serious. So you are officially allowed to have fun while learning - go figure.

I’m Satu, one of the four birds of the De Vaja’s first hatch, a group of trainees who were a mix-in of varying backgrounds and skill-levels. We were brought together to make this thing come to life and now, we’re happy to see it continue as De Vaja Academy - a learning platform for future developers. On the way we learned so much, from zeros and ones upwards, not to mention some soft skills of teamwork, working in a project and all the things absorbed in from the people at the office over lunches and coffee breaks.

I learned that it takes a fearless mindset of exploring, being curious, persistent and taking obstacles as chances to learn. I learned that working as a developer is paradoxical. On the other hand the code is all that matters. But then again, you rarely or never work alone. You’ll have a team, usually a client too. Also, you need to consider who are the users of an application in the end. You will need to be able to communicate and work together. That’s why it’s hard to become a purely self-taught developer without any link to a community or company like you get with De Vaja.

The answer to the original question of how does building a birdhouse teach one web development is… well, who am I to decide that for you. I only warmly recommend you to take the leap, apply to De Vaja and give it a go. Happy coding and learning!

You can now watch the whole short film "Kun koodarit rakentaa linnunpöntön" on YouTube and Facebook. The video was created by Livion developers and trainees to show the fun we are having while creating awesome and innovative things. We hope you enjoy the video and share it with your friends and network.