Lockdown: My transformation story
The first time I heard about Covid-19, I felt it was just one of those short-lived disruptions or sensational threats that will soon be forgotten. It’s about 4 months now and we all are still stuck.
Lagos State announced a 2-week lockdown after the initial partial lockdown period as cases were increasing. On that day, 30th March, 2020, I cried as my business was badly affected.
I knew I had a burning desire for Tech but prior to that time, I didn’t even bother checking it out as I felt it was more of a guys’ lane and it would be needing so much training to get started.
I was right in some ways but the other side of the truth was not a lie also. Ladies are very much welcome in tech and I so much now understand that you can access good trainings online as long as you’re ready and willing.
Since my business was suspended in its entirety and the holiday was already hiding details of its length, I decided to see what I can get started with in tech so I reached out to few of my friends who were already in tech.
One of them who is currently with Decagon Institute was of great help as he requested that I come along to meet him with my laptop computer in order to help me with the setup. I went along with my troublesome mini PC (it was really troublesome). He installed VSCode, gave me starting resources and pointed me in the direction of Freecodecamp.
And right there, that became the beginning of my path in Tech.
I eventually had to get another PC as the one I started with was still faulty. Luckily, I was able to get that done on the day before the Lockdown was fully effected.
I joined StartNG believing it was for beginners but misunderstood what beginners meant in Software and Web Development. I was not even yet a beginner! It was quite hard at first grappling with the assignments and all but the tasks propelled me to search for the necessary knowledge and learn by application.
I still laugh whenever I remember how I was trying to correct “color” to “colour” in CSS and it wasn’t working. Those were little frustrating moments for me. What made it easy for me was the network of friends I had around me. I am blessed with so many Devs and trainee Devs as friends who were very supportive and collaborative.
I learnt so much within that short period but one thing I learnt that boosted my self confidence and helps me fight impostor syndrome is working with the terminal. Although I still sometimes have to peep into my notes, but the sight of the little magic that happens after typing “dir” and pressing “enter” makes me feel on top of the world.
After StartNG internship, SheCodeAfrica, another opportunity to advance my learning and network came knocking and this time, it was just what I needed. A vibrant community of passionate female developers who understand and can relate with what it entails to be breaking into a line considered erroneously by many as a men’s world. The unique thing about SheCodeAfrica for me was the one on one Mentorship program. I applied and after series of tasks and an interview, I was selected to be one of those to be mentored in the 2nd cohort of the mentoring programme.
I was privileged to be assigned to an understanding mentor who painstakingly takes her time to break down JavaScript programming concepts. She made array methods which were hitherto alien-speak to me seem like ABCD.
While on the journey, I applied for CodeCademy pro membership and was granted the 3 months pro membership to further my learning. I decided to use the opportunity in learning React; a JavaScript library. It has been an amazing journey as much as it is and was also fun. After a month on CodeCademy, I was certified on the React learning path.
I must say I am really glad I took the bold step of going after what I love doing. I am also very grateful to all platforms that I have utilized during this period of time.
As I proceed on this journey, I hope to build more of projects especially with React. Watch this space as I will be sharing what I’m learning each step of the way henceforth.
How has this global lockdown been of benefit to you? Share in the comments.
