Kade’s year in industry: Inspired by the return of a classic

With the new Karate Kid film hitting cinemas this month, we couldn’t resist the chance to pay tribute to the legendary dojo spirit. At TrueNorth IT, we’ve always believed in the power of mentorship, discipline and quiet determination, values that run deep in the Karate Kid universe. So, when we looked back on on the placement year that Kade has spent with us, the parallels were too perfect to ignore. From humble beginnings to technical triumphs, this is the story of a placement student who trained hard, levelled up and delivered his own Crane Kick moments.

The Dojo begins

Kade arrived at TrueNorth IT and was warmly welcomed into the dojo. As with every new trainee, he was issued his training gear: a high-end Dell laptop, an ultrawide monitor with ergonomic monitor arms, and a Ducky One mechanical keyboard. His desk setup was clean, sharp and ready for battle.

TrueNorth doesn’t just stop at hardware. Kade was handed the staff handbook, introduced to the lunchtime ritual of Munchkin and Carcassonne, and given full access to our digital arsenal: ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot and a Pluralsight license. This wasn’t just onboarding – it was the first step in a journey of disciplined technical mastery.

Wax on, wax off

Every karate master begins with the basics, and so did Kade. His first “chores” were deceptively simple:

• Write a console app in Node.js that connects to Dynamics 365
• Create a Node function that returns a simple string
• Learn the basics of React via a Pluralsight course

But as Mr. Miyagi taught, the lesson is in the repetition. These tasks weren’t just exercises, they were subtle lessons in tooling, syntax and flow. We respect that everyone learns differently, so Kade had the freedom to explore other learning paths if Pluralsight wasn’t his style. He knew he could reach out to peers anytime for support, questions, or guidance.

Sweep the leg (or not…)

As his skills developed, Kade moved from kata to kumite. He’d been introduced to PRs, user stories and the rhythm of delivery.

Then came his first real challenge:

“As a customer, I would like to see a list of support cases from the helpdesk.”

With a clear user story and his accumulated knowledge, Kade began building. Pulling data from D365, structuring a customer-facing view – it all came together. His wax on, wax off training paid off. He delivered something real, functional and valuable. It was his first true contribution to production-grade software.

The Crane Kick

Every dojo has its defining moment. For Kade, it was a technically demanding piece of work in one of our live projects. The client needed:

A way to preview quotes as PDFs before generating and storing them in SharePoint.

Previously, they used a Power Automate flow to generate the PDF, but that wasn’t enough. The customer needed real-time previewing, drag-and-drop row reordering and a clean final PDF generated server-side.

Kade delivered.

He implemented a React-based preview in D365, complete with reorderable UI, and an Azure Function using headless Chrome to render a true PDF. The result? Seamless preview, flawless output, and one very happy customer. This wasn’t just a solution—it was a Crane Kick to a core problem.

The master becomes the student

Success breeds responsibility. After the success of the PDF work, Kade was integrated into the main sprint team, delivering work directly to the customer. His focus? Expanding and enhancing the PDF tooling across the application.

Now he’s not just writing code: he’s reviewing others’ work, writing test plans and contributing across the SDLC. He’s become a reliable peer, a mentor-in-the-making and a central part of the delivery team.

Final match

Looking back on Kade’s year with us, we’re incredibly proud. He’s grown immensely, not just as a developer, but as a team player, problem-solver and communicator.

He’s shared internal demos on complex challenges, presented his PDF solution to the client (which was a hit) and brought great energy to the team. He’s made technical impact and brought good vibes.

As part of his journey, Kade also successfully passed the Microsoft AZ-204 Certification Exam, a fantastic milestone that demonstrates both technical depth and a strong commitment to professional growth.

Whether it’s mastering React components or almost mastering lunchtime Munchkin, Kade’s year has been one of dedication, learning and real-world wins. (Though to be fair, Kade still needs to learn to actually read the cards in Munchkin – this remains his one true weakness.)

We’re grateful to have had him in our dojo – and we know he’s ready for whatever challenge comes next.

The TrueNorth dojo

At TrueNorth IT, we don’t just build software – we grow people. Our dojo isn’t defined by size, but by the care we put into our team’s development. From placement students to graduate hires, we’ve had the privilege of watching fresh talent become confident professionals.

Kade’s journey is one of many. Time and again, we’ve seen our grads rise through the ranks, learn from challenges, contribute to real-world projects and go on to do amazing things. We may be a small company, but we believe in high standards, meaningful mentorship and a supportive culture.

The TrueNorth dojo is built on shared knowledge, practical learning and respect for every team member’s path. And we’re proud to say: it works.

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