Standing on a rock in Colorodo

Hi! I'm Rick

I am a jr. software engineer. Thanks to learning sources like Reskill Americans, Codecademy, and other open source projects and learning programs, I've developed my knowledge in coding and problem-solving. I am currently living in Chicago, IL. making my way as a self-taught engineer, and I love the path that I am on so far. Overcoming challenges, learning every day, collaborating with other engineers by crafting quality sites either through freelancing or personal projects, is the best feeling!


Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to reach out!

About Me

I've completed a 7-month program with Reskill Americans. I spent time learning back-end development after educating myself and practicing my front-end development skills on personal projects. Through this program, I was able to complete multiple group projects collaborating with a team of engineers from UI/UX and design to mobile and front-end. Aside from working on my development as a software engineer, I work as a coding instructor for a non-for-profit organization that helps introduce students in Chicago's south and southwest areas to the world of programming.

Google scholarship certificate
Reskill Americans Certificate of Completion

Projects

Hands holding a gemstone

Hidden Gems

Hidden Gems is an app utilizing Google's Local Context Beta API to discover local, unheard of or unnoticed, places to eat.

Github: Hidden Gems repo

Stack:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • Bootstrap
A picture of a modal pop up

Rickstagram

While learning how to use the React web framework, I decided to create a clone of Instagram to help me understand and use the knowledge I gained. Mostly comprised of JavaScript, "Rickstagram" also tested my abilities when creating the logic for the dynamic search bar. In order to access the project I deployed it in Heroku.

Github: Rickstagram repo

Stack:

  • ReactJS
  • Bootstrap
  • JavaScript
  • Heroku
user interface of the todo app

To do App

This is a simple Todo application that let's you create, edit, delete, and mark task's as done. I used MongoDb to create a database and Mongoose for the purposes of being able to define the schema for the documents in that particular collection.

Github: To do app repo

Stack:

  • MongoDB/Mongoose
  • Express
  • EJS
  • NodeJS
  • Bootstrap
Landing page of the Touryst App

Touryst

Using Expressjs, I created the routes and controllers for the application to allow users to register, login, request forgotten passwords, encrypt newly created passwords and configure and send email verifications/forgotten password requests. I also adapted to switching between front and back-end roles to complete this project.

Github: Touryst | Tour-info project repo

Stack:

  • MongoDB/Mongoose
  • ExpressJS
  • EJS
  • NodeJS

Hobbies

Breakdance pose

I am passionate about learning new skills and building quality software for friends and businesses alike. Creating dynamic and responsive websites, using the flexbox model, HTML, and CSS while developing my skills in JavaScript has been a new and exciting experience that I relish.

I enjoy working in groups of like-minded and goal-oriented people. There is satisfaction in accomplishing a goal but even more gratifying is sharing the rewards and achievements with a team who has grown and gone through the challenges with you to create something awesome and unique.

When I am not on my laptop, working on development projects, I am teaching kids how to breakdance in a non-for-profit afterschool program based on the south side of Chicago.

Contact

Phone #: 773.226.2025

Email: rickmaya@gmail.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/rickmaya

Github: github.com/rickstylz01