Tariq Williams (he, him, his) - Coding Mentor
Avid learner. Movie critic. Amateur chef.
As a coding mentor at Apple Academy, Tariq loves being able to make a difference and give back. He enjoys watching the students learn and grow, developing apps, and collaborating with his team.
Prior to joining Apple Academy, Tariq’s love for coding and tech began years ago when he was just a teenager. An avid gamer, Tariq knew that he wanted to develop software for video games, so he took gaming and web development courses at Michigan State University, as well as teaching himself different coding languages before and during his college years.
Tariq earned his BA in Media and Information from Michigan State University. When he’s not in the Academy, you can find Tariq at a Detroit Tigers or Lions game, or spending time with his friends, family, and his 100-pound goldendoodle, Max.
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What would your fellow mentors say your greatest strengths are?
Being a great listener, problem solver, and over-achiever.
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If you were to offer students one piece of advice as they start their journey at the Academy, what would it be?
Be patient with yourself. Embrace every moment. What we are doing at the Academy is exciting.
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Have you always wanted to work in tech? What is your personal history with tech?
When I was just a teenager, I knew that I wanted to grow up and work within the software development field. Software development is very friendly to creativity, which made it easy to figure out what I specifically wanted to learn. Over the years, I began teaching myself various software before heading off to college at Michigan State University, where I gained even more coding knowledge due to my interest in game and web development.
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What was your experience with coding, tech, iOS, or entrepreneurship before the Academy?
Before the Academy, I had experience with game and web design. The main applications I used consisted of: Unity, Unreal Engine, HTML, CSS, JNode. During the pandemic (2020), I spent the majority of my time teaching myself different coding languages such as Python, JavaScript, Java, and more. I learned the basics of Swift UI before I joined the Academy.
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What made you want to be a mentor? What are you most excited about?
I wanted to become a mentor in order to gain skills and more leadership abilities. Teaching learners and then watching them grow is a very special moment to us mentors. I’m excited to continue to learn skills within the iOS development field, as well as grow with the mentors and watch learners progress through the academy. The emphasis on diversity here at the Academy amazes me, and I am very glad to be here.
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Where are you from and where do you live now?
I am from Lansing, MI. I currently live in Downtown Detroit.