Blog
Featured Developer Student for August 2019
Jason Smith
BIO
I grew up in St. Joseph, MO where I attended Missouri Western State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. While attending school, I worked part-time at the local casino as a table games dealer. After graduating, I continued working in the casino industry in various, different roles and departments including accounting, surveillance management and now internal audit. I’ve been married for the past 16 years to my wife Adrian and I have two young, beautiful daughters: Bailey (age 10) and Parker (age 8).
Q&A
Q: Why did you decide to come to Centriq?
A: While I have enjoyed working at Argosy Casino and being part of some great teams, I’ve never really felt passionate about it and so for the past few years, I’ve been on a search to find a career path that would be fulfilling and rewarding. After conferring with family and friends, I made the decision to pursue a career in the IT/programming field that has interested me ever since I was in elementary school and was introduced to the IBM personal computer and the classic game, Oregon Trail. After hearing Russ a few times on the radio, I found out more information about Centriq and decided to go for it.
Q: What class has been your favorite so far?
A: My favorite class, so far, has been Introduction to Data (SQL, XML, & JSON). Having enjoyed working a lot with Excel and a bit with Access throughout my career and in my personal life, the class came very naturally to me and the subject matter itself was very enjoyable.
Q: What do you hope to do after Centriq?
A: After Centriq, I hope to land a junior developer position where I can continue to grow and expand my development experience. I would love to eventually be able to work on/develop cool, new websites or digital toolsets for games (like D&D Beyond) or personal finance (like Mint).
Q: What other hobbies and interests do you have?
A: I’m a huge movie buff and love all things Marvel and Star Wars related. I enjoy following the Kansas City Royals and Sporting KC (when I’m not watching my own daughters play soccer). Lastly, as time allows, I love playing various PC games and I’m in a monthly D&D gaming group.