Coding Bootcamp Metaphors

Photo by Roman Synkevych on Unsplash

I’m in a full-time Software Engineer BootCamp with Flatiron School. It’s 40 hours a week of class time 8 am-5 pm (with a lovely hour lunch for you to take care of the rest of your life, exercise, eat, or my favorite: nap). And then 20ish hours of homework. So that’s 60 hours a week for 15 weeks/3.5 months. That’s 900 hours.

And the homework time is an estimate. If you don’t quite understand a topic, it might take you longer to complete the homework. Or if you’re as smarty pants, less time.

If you talk to other coding boot camp grads, you’ll hear it was hard, which is true. But sometimes that doesn’t quite convey the intensity and sheer volume of the program. And yes, all programs are structured differently, you’ll learn different languages, the timeline might be longer and your experience/mileage may vary. But the feeling of boot camp? That feeling is universal, or I think it is, especially if you’re switching careers.

Here are a few metaphors I thought of to give a clearer picture of what it feels like:

• Drinking from a Firehose: Imagine being thirsty and seeing a hose. You pick it up to take a drink. The water gets turned on and that’s when you realize it’s not an ordinary hose but a firehose. The sheer volume and pressure are so intense that you can’t understand why it doesn’t just take your face off. But you’re still there, you’re still alive and you have to keep drinking if you want to finish. Because eventually the water will be turned off or simply just turned down, and you’ll be on the other side in your new Software Engineer job embracing the fact that real life and boot camp are vastly different. That knowledge keeps you going and drinking from the firehose.

What did I get myself into?

• Old sponges still work: Your rapid learning pace muscle is out of shape. You might worry but you know you can do it. So you start class. And you realize your learning muscle isn’t out of shape; it’s an old dried-up sponge that was put in the cupboard under the sink and forgotten about. It’s still a sponge and it still works but when you put it under the faucet, it takes a while to absorb all of the water. And a good amount of water goes down the drain. But now that it’s a working sponge again it can do its job.

• Riding the Waves: You’re looking at the ocean — it’s big and beautiful, but it’s hard to comprehend its sheer size and volume. So you sit down in the surf and let the waves/lectures/lessons wash over you. But you’re in choppier water than you first thought, and the waves are big, not tsunami size but still sizeable. As the waves wash over you, they knock you down and swirl you around. But once you get right side up again, you sit down in the surf and each subsequent wave that comes in is just a little bit less intense than the one before. So, you keep sitting there determined to learn because you can do this.

These are just the ones I came up with in the first two weeks. (and no, I’m not quite sure why they are all water-related)

As I think of more I’ll add to this post.

Are you already in boot camp (or a grad) and are nodding along? What metaphors have you come up with?

Or if you’re in the middle of boot camp and that sounds like even more work, here’s some positive encouragement I received that I pass on to you.

“It’s tough, but you’re tougher.” — a Back End Software Engineer and bootcamp grad

“You CAN do this.” — a previous coworker

“Ask for help, even if you think it’s a dumb question. It’s probably not that dumb, and if you have this question, chances are other people do too.” — Flatiron bootcamp grad

“Oh, no one knows what they’re doing, even experienced Senior Engineers. A lot professionals you talk to will say “We’re professional googlers”. You just have to learn enough to be able to intelligently google what you need and know when to ask for help.” — a Full Stack Software Engineer and boot camp grad

“It’s only 15 weeks. Anyone can learn anything for 15 weeks.” — my mom

“Coding makes idiots of us all sometimes.” — a Full Stack Software Engineer and boot camp grad

“I’m not behind, I’m just not as caught up as I would like to be.” — me

“You’re right, it is hard, and that’s why it’s so amazing that you’re doing it.” — a bootcamp grad

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all hard. You have moments of eureka when a code just works after trying 17 different ways and that euphoria makes you feel like a superhero. And who doesn’t want to feel like a superhero?

The biggest thing to remember is why you’re doing this. Keep your eye on your goal, keep taking deep breaths, and come back here if you need more positive encouragement. I’ll add more as I receive them.

Basically, be prepared for hard. It might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Or it might not.