My bootcamp journey has come to an end…NOW WHAT?!?!

Porscha Johnson
Aug 28, 2017 · 5 min read
Final Group Project-WriteIT

It’s been a while since my last blog post, however, a lot has transpired over the past couple of months. I have officially graduated from boot camp!! ( Can we get an AMEN, ladies, and gentlemen) And now the real work begins. If you’re not familiar with my journey thus far feel free to catch up here. This post is going to summarize the pros, cons, and lessons learned from my experience. I will also provide an outline of what my post grad life will look like. I want to preface and say overall I am super glad I went this route as far as furthering my education and getting my foot in the tech industry door. Let’s get into it.


Pros-
I was super lucky and really hit it off with my cohort so when it came to debugging during and even after the program the support system has consistently been there and I am beyond thankful for that. Every day was like an emotional rollercoaster, I would have never been able to get through it without my cohort’s support, my faith, and belief in my own determination to see it through.

The career services team and overall structure of the program were awesome. They were super plugged into the local market and willing to do everything they could to prepare us to meet with tech companies. Our cohort received an opportunity to take part in mock interviews(insert scary white-boarding exercise here). I was so thrilled because it allowed me to feel more confident in what to expect during that style of interview.

The last week of the program we had the opportunity to vote as a class on topics outside of the syllabus that we wanted to explore. These quick, concise 2 hour sessions provided me with an introduction to Ruby, Angular and PHP.

Look of determination!!

The program really set a fire in me which has improved my self-confidence immensely. I am now more self-assured when it comes to effectively communicating technical topics in front of diverse audiences and solving problems in a more methodical way.

Cons -
The biggest con of my learning experience had to be the obvious disconnect between my instructor’s teaching style and the way in which I learn best. Great instructor with tons of real world experience, but the teacher/student connection never quite developed for me. On the flip side, I am very thankful because it really forced me to be an independent learner which will come in handy outside of the classroom.

Tips-
When you are looking into a boot camp, ask specific questions regarding your potential instructor’s teaching style(i.e slides vs. lecture, etc).This is SUPER important as it can be the determining factor in feeling super supported ( i.e wonder woman haha) or super isolated( i.e Marge Simpson- insert- inside joke here).

Try to push as much code as you can on the weekends!

Your schedule will probably be super crazy- however I am going to urge you to take the weekends to DEEP DIVE I am talking Michael Phelps your way through whatever topics, problem sets, etc you learned that week. TRUST ME that small sacrifice will increase your confidence levels in a way you would not believe which is a must for interviewing post graduation.

During the last week of the program start to set up the processes and tools you will need to foster success post graduation. Really think about what you want the following weeks or months to look like. There’s nothing like wasting a week, not pushing code or trying to get “it” together to fall off track and get out of the learning mindset.


On to my post- grad plan- it’s really simple, because why make life harder right.

GYM ~ STUDY~CODE~APPLY ( in that order)
I have organized my time throughout the day where I am able to do the things I love like cooking and getting back on a completely vegan diet. Since my program, I have lost over 10 pounds and also gained a lot of mental clarity now that I also go to the gym more regularly.

I have made the conscious decision to not learn a new programming language at this time and to focus on becoming even more proficient in the languages introduced during the boot camp( Javascript/Python).

Lat night post-grad debugging session.

I am going back and basically finishing or redoing projects from the course for extra practice, which has been working wonders thus far.

Lastly, I have been applying to any and everything to get my foot in the door. The more flexible you are, I truly believe the faster you’ll find the right opportunity.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. You all can always expect to hear my honest opinions reflected in my posts because I truly want to help as many people as I can trying to get into the tech field. If you have a more technical topic you would like for me to share please let me know. I will also continue to bring you all along my post-graduation journey from interviews to final offer. Buckle up and let’s get ready for the ride. By the way, below you’ll find a demo video of our final group project- I still can’t believe we learned all of this in just 16 weeks.

Stay Woke Friends!


Final Group Project Demo Video

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Porscha Johnson

Written by

Avid Reader~ Full Stack Developer~ Minimalist~ Travelor

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