a portrait of Ayomide

Hi There,

My name is Ayo; I am a software engineer and the founder of the Wolfsation DSA program. Thank you for stopping by!

Why Did We Start?

This program was birthed out of a couple of needs I experienced firsthand. The first need revealed itself when I finished university and applied for software engineering jobs. I realised I wasn’t well equipped to pass the technical interviews that tested an understanding of Data Structures & Algorithms (DSAs), so I had to learn independently. This process involved a lot of experimentation with different platforms (HackerRank, Leetcode, Firecode, Codewars, etc.) and techniques (books vs courses, visual vs kinaesthetic vs auditory) before I finally found the combination that worked for me. In that process, I realised the importance of structure, depth and community, and this program strives for these three pillars.

The second need became more apparent as I gained more experience in my career. DSAs get jested as irrelevant outside of interviews, but I have seen their relevance in different software engineering problems. Programming Languages are interpreted and compiled via tree structures. Databases store and access files via efficient tree structures. Networks are graphs. Operating Systems use linked lists, stacks, hashmaps and so on. And many problems higher up the stack also use these structures and algorithms. The point is that you need this knowledge, which this program provides, as a part of your toolbox to solve many problems well.

Why Join The Program?

We’ve had some success running this program in the past. In 2021, I taught two sets of people (7 in total) the internals of data structures and how to use specific algorithms over 5 and 7 weeks. In those weeks, we reviewed the structures in ~this repo~ and solved questions from Leetcode and other sources. The schedule was like this: teach theory on weekends and have 1:1s throughout the week to answer each person’s questions/address specific challenges. Personalised learning was helpful as everyone faced different challenges. And the results were great: 6 out of 7 got new offers from companies like Bloomberg, Microsoft and Amazon.

In 2022, the program taught over 200 people (graduating 10%) over 12 weeks with the help of amazing volunteers. The program resulted in offers from Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America for cohort members.

Apart from the more obvious program—> job pipeline we’ve seen success with, the other type of impact we’ve seen is how the program has helped members of our cohort become better engineers. We’ve heard testimonies about how our students solved complex problems in their organisations using simple ideas that the program taught them. This keeps us going!

The Team

Another strong positive is the core team that makes this program possible; their commitment will continue to ensure that the excellence of this program is sustained. Listed alphabetically, they are:

Thank you all so much — the program would not be possible without you!

In Closing

It’s 2024, and as a new cohort beckons, our program’s vision bears repeating: Our goal with this program is to equip software engineers with a strong foundation in data structures and algorithms (DSAs) to not only succeed in technical interviews but also excel in their software engineering careers. Good foundations are important because fundamentals are forever!

We’re excited about the future, everyone; apply to be a student or instructor to be a part of this vision!

Sincerely,
Ayomide Oyekanmi
Founder, Wolfstation DSA Program