Alumni Stories

From Psychology Instructor to Software Engineer

kenzie academy reviews

Ryan’s Story

“My name is Ryan Molyneaux. I used to be a Psychology Instructor, now I’m a Software Engineer.”

Ryan Molyneaux had her hand in a few different pots when she decided to pursue a career in tech. She was teaching psychology at a university in Arizona, building a business, and hosting a podcast. After deciding she wanted to work in tech, Ryan was accepted to an engineering program at a state university in Arizona but ultimately decided not to pursue it due to an unstable economy and steep tuition costs. 

“Technology has always been a passion because it solves real-world problems while allowing room for creativity,” Ryan said. “Having a graduate degree, I was not looking to add more student debt. So, I decided to do some research and found an article about Kenzie Academy’s program.”

For Ryan, Kenzie provided a high-quality tech education at a fraction of the cost of a traditional degree program. 

“I chose Kenzie because of their commitment to establishing diversity in technology, as well as the length and cost of their program,” Ryan said. “The quality of education I received from Kenzie was the same as the university program I would have attended but at a fraction of the cost and a much shorter time frame.” 

As a Software Engineering student, Ryan enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere and especially cherishes her memories of the capstone presentationsthe final projects students complete using all of the skills they’ve learned at Kenzie

“I loved the autonomy of the program and the challenges presented in each lesson,” Ryan said. “Resources were always available and there was a supportive community of instructors and peers just a Slack chat away.” 

Now Ryan will combine her teaching experience with her love of coding in her position as Curriculum Software Engineer at CodeHS. Her responsibilities include creating media and building software that teaches programming to K-12 students. 

“While Kenzie provided me with strong programming knowledge, I think the most valuable takeaway was real-world exposure to the tech industry,” Ryan said. “By the time I applied to my company, I had experience with working on an engineering team and was used to ‘rolling with the punches’ in an ever-changing environment.” 

Ryan has a final piece of advice for current and future Kenzie students as she prepares to take on her new role. 

“Ask the instructors and facilitators tons of questions, build your own support systems, stay on top of your personal goals, and don’t stop coding,” Ryan said. 

Read more Kenzie Academy reviews and learner stories here.


Ready to jumpstart your career as a UX Designer or Coder? Learn more about our 12-month Software Engineering and 6-month UX Design programs, or check out our free beginner’s coding program Kenzie Free. View more Kenzie Academy reviews on our Results page. 

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