Oh Canada

In which Isaac introduces himself.

My name is Isaac!

I was raised in Creston, British Columbia a country town with the population of 5,300. Home of the Columbia Brewery (whose mascot is a BigFoot), and two grain elevators.

ooooo, ahhhh

I met my wife in California while studying at a bible college and after getting married we decided to move to her hometown in Lawrence, Kansas. In immigrating to America I was legally unable to work, and had a lot of free time on my hands. Thanks to the encouragement and guidance of my brother-in-law, Mark, I started the process of learning to program. I quickly fell in love and started a coding bootcamp a few months later to fast-track my learning.

Brand New Box

Mark was previously an intern at Brand New Box and was kind enough to introduce me to Nate and Matt.

Being new to the development world I was nervous for our first meeting… I was fully expecting them to pull out the white board and have me write formulas. Instead I was introduced to the team and was asked about what is important to me, and what can I bring to Brand New Box. The meetings were personal, and I felt they really cared about my best intentions and my learning process. After a few meetings and the arrival of my green card they brought me onto the team and I began the internship.

Music Notes

Your final step as an intern is to create a web application based on something you are passionate about. As a child I played classical piano and have continued to produce and record all genres of music as an adult. One challenge I have had in my music endeavours is receiving valuable feedback from other musicians! No matter how many times my mom tells me, “You are a star”, I will not progress in my learning.

I wanted to create an application for musicians to

  • Build a community with like minded artists and musicians
  • Receive productive critiques and criticism
  • Showcase pieces of music that are not yet completed
Music Notes Homepage
About Music Notes.

This was one of my first projects I had written in the framework Ruby on Rails. I was blown away by the simplicity without having to sacrifice any speed or performance!

As a new user to Music Notes you will create a profile and then upload a snippet.


New Snippet Page
Add a snippet.

A snippet holds the different versions available as you tweak your masterpiece and continue to upload it for the review of other musicians.


New Version Page
Add a version.

This version will be available on your profile as well as a discovery page as an invitation for other musicians to take part in your creative process.


Snippet Page
Version description.

I cannot stress enough how beneficial it was for me to experience Ruby on Rails and developing in general within the context of a tight knit team. As any past intern could tell you, there are going to be challenges. If I was working for a major company that did not have a one-on-one type learning system I could have slipped through the cracks, or have withdrawn due to my discouragement. Instead I was met by a highly knowledgeable team that understood I would not “know it all” day one. Thanks to this guidance, I now get to put this love of creativity and development towards our clients projects.

Thank you Brand New Box for the opportunity and the investment you have made in me!