Bracken Mosbacker

Director of Development at Lumen Learning

600 NW 14th Avenue, Suite 200

To Bracken,
I am excited to apply for the Web Developer Intern position because of the groundbreaking and innovative work that Lumen does with open education resources. As a former college student who dreaded the textbook bill at the start of each semester, I would love to be able to work at a company that could potentially make a huge difference to current and future struggling students, as well as transform the educational industry. I am motivated by constantly learning new things, and I enjoy learning from and working with others in a team to make the best product possible; I believe these attributes will make me a perfect fit for your company.

Though my background is not in web development, I have always loved math and the gratifying feeling of figuring something out and understanding a concept; I get the same giddy feeling when I look at a particularly elegant piece of code. I also love learning new things and adapting to my circumstances; in my previous job, I was required to learn SAP (software that my company used exclusively) as well as how to operate our different GIS databases. I pushed myself and took advantage of all my resources (documentation, mentors, etc.) to learn it to the best of my abilities. In a matter of months I was proficient in using it and even had senior members of my department coming to me for help. I enjoyed working on a small team; if I was struggling, I knew that all I had to do was ask one of my coworkers. It is also much easier to make a difference and see that difference on a small team, which can be extremely gratifying and pushes me to work harder. For example, at this same job, I was able to help the department’s overall productivity rise through teamwork and communication. If I finished my work for the day, I would make sure to ask my coworkers if they needed help, and would take and finish some of their workload if they were unable to finish it themselves.

Although I enjoyed these aspects of my job, I realized that I wanted to push myself further and work in an industry that was more fast-paced and cutting-edge. I read an article that proclaimed bootcamps were the solution to the labor shortage that the tech industry was facing, and started daydreaming about becoming a programmer. Some time later, I decided to go for it and started at Epicodus, immersing myself for forty-plus hours a week for four months in the world of programming. I am most comfortable with Javascript and Rails, but I am also fully confident in my ability to learn new languages and get the job done. The most important thing I’ve learned at Epicodus is being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and having confidence in my abilities to be able to accomplish tasks that I previously had thought to be impossible. Epicodus has dramatically increased my resilience, toughness, and adaptability.

Thank you for your time in reviewing my application. I know my passion for learning, my ability to work in a team, and the skills and backgrounds I have will be a good fit for your company. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Brett New