Mary Lark, Full Stack Engineer

1980 - 2000 : Before websites were a thing ... application development was the thing

Having a broad background in software engineering, starting as a Unix Systems Administrator, moving into Software Development allowed me to quickly assimilate into complex environments quickly.

After graduating from San Francisco State University, I spent 4 years programming in c and C++ in the gnu-unix and Visual Studio environments in financial systems and medical device enterprise development organizations.

Taking a 12 year sabatical to raise my family (because of course, raising a family is like a vacation - right?), I returned to my technical career. My timing couldn't have been more perfect, with the advent of javascript, html, css, Java, front-end and back-end engineering. Boy was in for a surprise when I returned to work!

2007 - 2011 : What is this fullstack thing?

Tiptoeing into my surprise, I began working customer support and technical assistance at an Internet Service Provider installing security certificates and websites in Microsoft IIS/Apache-Tomcat environments. At this job I was exposed to HTML and CSS, but still no clue about the rest.

2011 - 2020 : I seem to be in fullstack development, I think?

Then I moved on working as an IT Engineer for an educational services provider, providing customized citrix virtual environments, installing gateways, routers, domains, and virtualized desktops in both the Linux and Microsoft O/S's. Shell scripting with Perl, VisualBasic, PowerShell, etc. were my main tools.

The final year I moved into full-time development on an Agile development team working with Object Oriented programming. I developed software within a pre-designed framework, expanding and maintaining code in Java in what they called their Middleware stack. Using Javascript, PowerShell, Linux Shell Scripting and SQL -- all of which I knew from years earlier, and Java coding I slid into as it was much like C++ where I had prior experience. Still, this notion of full stack was a bit nebulous to me.

Not all good things last. That company downsized dramatically and I needed to move on. Finally, after spending a few years as an independent web designer, I decided to refresh my technical skills by returning to school. I wanted a bootcamp that offered more than 3 mos instruction so I felt solid with my new skills before returning to work. I found just that in appAcademy's 6-month immersive bootcamp. Finally I understood just how much I had missed with my exit to raise my family. It was considerable!

2020: Covid was good for something: Remote Learning! I finally get this fullstack thing!

After graduating from appAcademy's bootcamp, my tech stack now includes: JavaScript, JSON, HTML, CSS, RegExp, Python, Pug Templates, React, Redux, Express.js, NodeJS, postgreSQL, MS SQL, Flask-SQLAlchemy, and Docker. See my Skills portion of this site for all of my skills now.

2021: How the heck do I advertise myself? All that experience, but now what?

Using what I learned at appAcademy, I took a remote job as a mobile developer for a boutique event planning company where I worked with three talented developers using React and ReactNative. Alas, cutbacks dictated the engineering group would be much cheaper offshore engineers, so my job search continued.

Entering the government workspace, I obtained my Secret government clearance working with Javascript, Docker, Docker Compose, and finally when I obtained my Secret clearance I moved on to Angular with a C# backend on embedded systems.

Even government contracts are not immune to cutbacks, and I found myself at another division, working with Swelt and Jasmine/vitest writing frontend components for the Saphire project. I also upgraded my Secret Clearance to TS/SCI which was granted 1/25.

Mid level full stack engineer available for hire

Yes, you read that right. Mid level. I've had exactly 4 years, including school, learning full stack engineering, and 3 years on the job. I just moved out of an entry level position in frontend engineering. So yes, low-midlevel frontend engineer or backend engineer... Now that we know what to call me, I am currently available for full time work in the Denver metro area. Hit me up if you're looking for someone with a nice broad background, current tech skills, leadership and mentorship skills, AND who brings fun, smiles, and a high level of productivity and commitment to the workplace!