Hi, I am

Lara olde Bolhaar

Front-end developer CSS / JavaScript / React

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How did I get to where I am now...

WordArt

Primary school

In the Netherlands, my home country, primary school is attended from around the age of 5 until about 12 years old. It was during the final two years of primary school that I encountered website design for the first time. While the specifics are hazy in my memory, I distinctly recall the task of "creating a website." This primarily involved experimenting with various WordArt fonts within Microsoft Word. Afterward, a few clicks magically transformed the creation into an HTML page. Of course, there was no coding or programming involved, but let's be honest—who didn't enjoy tinkering with WordArt...

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High school

Unfortunately, I never really got into coding or programming back in high school. I remember there were computer classes, but back then, anything computer-related was kind of seen as a "guy thing." I was curious, yeah, but without any teachers cheering me on, I never gave it a shot. Now that I look back on high school and the subjects we learned, I think they should've taught us more about skills like coding. And you know what? Girls and women should totally be pushed more to join in on subjects and skills that are usually seen as just for guys. It's about time things changed!

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Guy in front of a laptop coding
Wageningen University campus and logo

University

I studied at Wageningen University & Research, where I got both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Animal Sciences. In my Bachelor's, I even tried out teaching by doing a minor in Education and I ended up teaching college kids. It was pretty interesting because I not only learned how to teach, but also a lot about myself. Funny thing is, if someone had told me earlier that I'd end up volunteering as a teacher, I'd probably have laughed. But then I decided I needed a challenge and wanted to broaden my horizons. That's what got me into checking out coding and programming courses. Back then, there was only one option: a "Programming in Python" course. I looked at the course description, and honestly, it didn't excite me much. On top of that, friends talked me out of it, saying it was super tough. And in that moment, I think I started believing that maybe programming wasn't for me. I thought it was a thing for super techy guys or those brainy types. Funny how perspectives can change, right?

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SheCodes

After I finished university, coding and programming kind of slipped off my radar. I landed a gig as a poultry nutritionist, and that pretty much became my whole deal. Like everyone else, I'm no stranger to mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and getting bombarded with ads that are supposed to be right up my alley. There was this one ad for SheCodes that just kept popping up, to the point where it was seriously getting on my nerves. Then, out of nowhere, the ad shouts, "Hey, FREE Coding Class!" and for some reason, it piqued my interest. Maybe it was the word "free" that did the trick? Anyhow, I figured, why not give it a shot? So I signed up. For the first time ever, someone made coding sound like this super cool and fun thing, and I couldn't resist the temptation. I mean, who knew coding could actually be exciting, right? So here I am, all eager to learn how to code. Funny how things turn out!

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My SheCodes certificate