Ventajas
Teaching kids and watching their growth and excitement as they learned coding and game development was genuinely fulfilling. I had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with a wide range of game engines, programming languages, and 3D modeling software, which greatly expanded my skill set. My coworkers were all talented, passionate, and a joy to collaborate with, creating a supportive and inspiring work environment. I was also able to advocate for myself and successfully negotiate benefits such as health insurance and flexible schedule, which was a major plus considering the part-time nature of many roles in this field.
Desventajas
CodeWiz suffered from a lack of structure and effective leadership. There was often no clear direction for instructors, who were frequently left in the dark about which classes they were teaching or how to approach them. Leadership was rarely present onsite, yet expected instructors to handle not only teaching, but also curriculum development, event planning, and school outreach, often without guidance or support. Hours were inconsistent and unstable—while I began with around 32–36 hours a week, that number dropped to as few as 15 by the end, despite initial promises of growth. Lesson planning was expected to be done on our own time, unpaid, which further strained staff morale. High school students were frequently brought in to manage broken systems with little training or compensation, and there were discussions of turning them into unpaid volunteers. Senior instructors were often tasked with multiple classes and expected to work on their days off to keep up, again with no compensation. Last-minute changes to schedules and responsibilities were the norm, leaving staff scrambling with little information. Any attempt by senior employees to raise concerns or push for improvements was met with condescension and, often, eventual termination or resignation. At its worst, CodeWiz Durham felt chaotic and unsustainable—any order established by proactive staff was quickly undone by management decisions. It’s possible that things have improved since my departure, but during my time there, the experience was deeply frustrating despite its highlights.