Back in January, I started a coding Bootcamp here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like everyone else during the pandemic, I found myself learning many new things. The programming languages, Python and JavaScript, were things I learned during this time and I fell in love with them. I was hooked!
I wanted to continue learning these languages so I researched and found a coding Bootcamp here in Rio that teaches in English -as I am a native speaker. I decided to join their part-time classes but I was a bit nervous because I read many blogs saying that these bootcamps are very intense. Even though I was nervous, I was elated. Today makes a month since I started the Bootcamp and I can just say I am even more enthusiastic about programming. I spend my free time after work building little software challenges and watching youtube video tutorials of the lessons I learned in class. It has been a long time since I feel this excited about learning something new and studying because I found what I was learning to be interesting and not studying because I was fearful of bad marks on an exam. the following are some of the lessons I learned thus far.
1. There’s strength in numbers
Reaching a goal is so much easier when there are other like-minded people around to support you. For almost all of our Bootcamp activities, we were assigned a classmate for the day which we could consult if we had a problem with the programming challenge. In a few classes, we had group programming sessions where we were able to discuss the problems of the code and I was able to see how others rationalize things differently from me. This was great as I learned easier ways to get to a solution.
2. Working hard isn’t half as bad as it seems
The Bootcamp is intense with lots of new concepts. On the first coding day I had a headache from the amount of information taught, but it was worth it and soon I was familiar with the concepts being revised in class. As a programmer, you have to be constantly learning as there are always new frameworks and systems to learn but if you have the basis you can learn any other framework of other languages because, in essence, they are the same concepts
3. I can do it!
On my third day at the Bootcamp, I saw someone quit from the full-time batch. The full-time batch is normally ahead of the part-time and this made me a bit scared. I wondered if it was going to be that hard in the next classes that it would cause me to quit too. But I have to remember not to compare myself with others. I only saw her quitting but I do not know the backstory to her situation nor do I know her stresses. At the end of the first month, the process is still hard and it got harder. I had to put in more time than what was allotted to learn new concepts. Also, I had to do a review class with the professor because I didn’t do so well on my first assessment test. I was a bit embarrassed at first but this review class was very beneficial as I was able to solidify many of the conceptions I was weak in
So far this Bootcamp is reaching all my expectations and I can’t wait to finish and see the wonderful applications I can build. I would definitely recommend bootcamps because the learning is structured, you are surrounded by like-minded people and you have teachers that can respond and help with your questions right away, which is sometimes much faster than google.
