Life As Unusual — First Weeks Programming
Before I go into this story, I’d first like to welcome you to my medium page where I’ll be sharing my experience in the world of software development. This is going to go on for as long as it will so feel free to follow for updates upon new releases.
As a young kid growing up in Nigeria, I first heard of the word programmer when I was in elementary school. It didn’t make much sense to me of course but I was told they write a set of computer instructions.
“What is instructions?,” I’d ask in my mind. I became even more confounded. Now those were about the 2000’s when internet was largely a myth and the only mobile devices were handheld 2-way radios. The earlier I got my mind off this conundrum the better it seemed. Life went by, I came to the US for my masters education and I wanted to develop a skillset just for myself. And I thought… software development.
Now I had become a little more aware of what programmers do but I had no friend in the field and it was more of a novice outsider looking in. They say sometimes it’s better ‘not to look before you leap, else you look into nothingness’ but in this case, I wasn’t sure that would help in any way. It seemed like I actually needed to do a lot more looking and understand how complicated it was. Along the way, I searched for materials and found some people that claimed they self-practiced to become programmers, some stories were exciting and interesting and some actually challenged me. Anyways, I thought within myself that it was more about finding a skill for me and yes, I wanted to learn that skill. I also wanted a perfect match for a school; “A bootcamp having a great set of programs and activities should make this a possibility in few months”, I thought to myself.
Then came Flatiron school. Seemed like they had a lot more good reviews and had been in the business for quite some time. “It would be nice to join some school of repute for this.” I enrolled in the cohort that started April 2020. I had opted for the in-person training which would take a total of 15 weeks for completion but because of the coronavirus pandemic that basically put everything on hold, it meant we had to move to online class reception until further notice. Great cohort colleagues and even better instructors who loved what they do, making communication (which is very necessary for novices like me) easier.
First few days in and it was smooth sailing. It was not until towards the end of the second week that I realized the true meaning of a bootcamp: get ahead of class and catch up when you fall behind… but knowing the meaning alone very nearly does nothing for you. It meant changing your lifestyle if necessary and planning far into the future since everything comes by fast. You have to get used to not having all the answers and you have to search for almost everything. Even experienced programmers in the real world never stop searching for information, we were told. As a student in the bootcamp, you have to maintain your focus, commitment, resolve and never despair during the rollercoaster rides of failing and passing code tests. Let me also mention here that within the first 3 weeks, I changed my work computer three times. With a stable and working laptop, you have a lot of challenges waiting at the door which can be easily overwhelming; changing your workstation is something you don’t want to have to do. Anyways, that’s story for another day.
I’m enjoying everything thus far about my program, most especially when I imagine the whole world of possibilities open when one have that skill. Within the first 3 lectures, I was already planning what projects I’d like to take on since everything revolved around relating one entity with another… or so I thought LoL. More than classes, there were some other exciting learning activities which gives you some opportunity to know and learn more about working as a team member. It would become very clear that making a good team member is super critical to writing great programs. When I searched about the number of codes that run popular web applications, I was intrigued as to how many smaller teams would have gone into making all that possible.
Overall, I can say I’m proud to be taking this bold step in my professional life and looking forwards to the challenges and thrills of the next modules. Until then, stay safe and have a great week ahead!
