Le Wagon is up amongst the best things that I've ever done. I feel like I have a superpower, but like any good hero/heroine I've got to keep growing, learning, and adapting.
The post below was originally published on Medium.
I'll give you some life context so that you can understand how Le Wagon literally changed mine.
I left university midway through my degree in History and German. I didn't feel that I was getting enough value to make the investment sensible. I was there because of ambition. I want to have a good career in a job that I enjoy. I went to an academic school in London and was taught that university was the only way forward after 18. To not go would be to forfeit my right to a successful future; to stagnate. Keep paddling, don't question, you'll make it.
I was on holiday in Lisbon, staying in a house share. Sitting at the kitchen table, glancing at the laptop of the person next to me, I saw fluorescent text tapping along the dark screen. Coding, just like in the movies. It still excites me when I open up my laptop and see the arcane looking terminal and text-editor in which I do most of my work. I asked the guy operating the laptop how I might be able to sneak into his mystical world. He asked what I was studying. History I said. Well then, a coding bootcamp he said. And that's when I found Le Wagon. Googling away and trying to find the best bootcamp in Europe. I hit gold, but I didn't know it at the time. I applied, I got a place, and I left university.
I didn't make my decision lightly and I was worried that Le Wagon wouldn't live up to my hopes and dreams. That I wouldn't like coding.
The first 3 weeks are hard but immensely rewarding. At 9am the 90 minute lecture starts and one of Le Wagon's great teachers guides you through a new concept. You have to concentrate. Every syllable is important to your understanding. You then split off into randomly assigned pairs and work through coding exercises until 5:30pm. This is where your brain strains as it shifts and develops new methods of function. You'll get tired, you'll sit in total frustration, you'll feel brilliant. From 5:30pm-7:00pm a student will go in front of the class and try to solve a coding problem. Don't worry if the thought of this intimidates you, it does most, but you won't be alone up there, the class will work with you. On this course you learn hard skills. Through 360+ hours of coding you are born into the world of technology and what an awesome world it is.
The next 4 weeks are difficult too, but there is a shift in what is learned. It becomes much more visual, and your first 3 weeks come together to make sense. You really have to trust the process. Often times you might think, why are we learning this? It's because Le Wagon is responsible. They don't give you a whistle-stop, skim read, superficial introduction to coding. They dig the foundations deep to steady you for a whole future of explosive growth.
The last 2 weeks are spent working on your final project in teams of 3-4. This is the stuff I love, creating something from nothing. Once again it's hard but by this point you trust in your ability to make your vision a tech reality. I worked with a fantastic team to build a live streaming platform - socialive. It's still up and running to this day, and the team are raising a seed round now!
Le Wagon is up amongst the best things that I've ever done. I feel like I have a superpower, but like any good hero/heroine I've got to keep growing, learning, and adapting. That's the world of technology and that's what Le Wagon teaches you.
