AJ Singh

Though I grew up in Silicon Valley – a hub for technological innovation and investment – my youth revolved more around sports than technology. That quickly changed when I attended UC Davis. Some of my peers were engineers and I appreciated how much of impact tech can have on our lives. Little did I know, my future career would allow me to blend my childhood passion with my profession.

Post-graduation, I landed a web design position with a marketing agency. Before making a jump to junior web developer, I taught myself the nuances of WordPress. I was fascinated by my newfound ability to modify and bend code to my liking. I realized that if I continued to build my skill-set, I'd be able to give digital life to anything I could imagine.

My growing passion for creating seamless web content led me to Treehouse, which caught my attention as an exceptional resource for learning code and web development. Treehouse features a practical blog, informative video features and the site constantly adds and updates their learning content – a necessity in the rapidly evolving world of technology.

In June of 2014, my career evolved once more. The Sacramento Kings' Digital department was in search of a web developer and there's is no doubt in my mind that the skills I developed using Treehouse set me apart from the other candidates.

The Sacramento Kings' Digital department was in search of a web developer and there's is no doubt in my mind that the skills I developed using Treehouse set me apart from the other candidates.

Last year, a new ownership group led by chairman and majority owner Vivek Ranadivé purchased the team. A native of India, Ranadivé worked hard to get to where he is today. He also exhibits two characteristics that I value greatly – a deep love for the game of basketball and a pro-technology attitude. As a member of the Sacramento Kings business team, I am thrilled to uphold Ranadivé's “NBA 3.0” vision, which embraces technology, globalization and community.

As a team on the rise, the work environment with the Kings is exciting, fast-paced and forward-thinking. The team already began demolition for a state-of-the-art new Entertainment and Sports Center, slated to open in fall of 2016. This has led every department, including Digital, to push the envelope across the board. My supervisor has placed me in a position where I feel respected, valued and integrated within our digital team. Although we put countless hours into perfecting our website, Kings.com, we often work on side projects for international content, mobile applications, or platforms from which our basketball operations can also benefit. As team members, we are constantly focused on the future thanks to goal-setting and our shared NBA 3.0 vision.

The importance of web development is not lost on the Kings, and it is nice to feel appreciated within this organization. The workload is demanding, but it's a privilege to have such a responsibility and to work on compelling sports content. I regularly employ HTML, CSS, Console, JavaScript, and jQuery skills I've developed from Treehouse's Front-End Development Track in addition to the PHP skills I've gained from the PHP Track. The information within Treehouse's Career Resources has proven to be priceless.

My advice to aspiring Treehouse students is to take your time and not just watch lessons – follow along! Don't be afraid to re-watch or retry challenges. These tasks can become complicated and tiresome, but it's not meant to be easy. It is perfectly okay to get stuck or confused. If you hit a wall, the Community never fails to help. Personally, I also enjoy solidifying the skills I initially developed on Treehouse with quality books and exercises elsewhere online.

I'm looking forward to new and evolving curriculum offered on Treehouse because I'm fixated on becoming one of the finest developers in the league.