Dev Catalyst Alumni Spotlight: Alex Tetzlaff and Limitless Puzzles

“Coding is like a limitless puzzle,” says Alex Tetzlaff, a junior engineering and computer science major from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “There is no defined answer.”

With its infinite possibilities, Tetzlaff was drawn to coding after spending years intrigued with computers and striving to understand how they worked, so when his high school announced they would be offering the Dev Catalyst program, he jumped at the opportunity to participate. He says one of the things he loves about coding is its ever-changing nature and the ability to always learn, develop, and improve codes.  

“There are so many ways to do coding,” Tetzlaff says. “It’s important to explore new ways of coding and to not just stick to one way of doing things.” 

He says working alongside his teammates and interacting with students from other schools was one of the biggest takeaways from his Dev Catalyst experience because he says it was an amazing opportunity to work with individuals with the same interests who were as equally dedicated and passionate about programming as he was. 

Years later, Tetzlaff currently works at an on-campus IT position as a student network engineer (while being a full-time student), but he is still able to see how important the sense of community is within coding. He says multiple people like his bosses, classmates, and professors have opened so many possibilities for him to further his education and knowledge in coding, and he says he strives to pay it forward to other programmers as well.  

“Helping others and learning from others is crucial,” Tetzlaff says. “Coding is all about sharing ideas and problem-solving together.”

Along with the knowledge he gained from the Dev Catalyst program, Tetzlaff says the experience of going to San Francisco, a trip sponsored by theCO for students who excelled in the Dev Catalyst competition, was also vital for him and his coding journey.  

From exploring the Google headquarters (“it was like a small city!”) to touring the Computer Science Museum, he says he was able to walk away from the trip with unforgettable memories.  

“We had a lot of one-on-one conversations with some of the staff there, and those one-on-one conversations are really what fueled my want to code more,” Tetzlaff says. 

To learn more about Dev Catalyst and all it offers for students, click here.