Coding Boot Camp: A new chapter
Three weeks ago I started a coding boot camp at Hack Reactor. I entered with confidence and a strong motivation to dive into the software engineering realm. This post will be about my experience so far and the lessons learned.
Do you know that feeling when you start something but immediately wish you were more prepared? The first day of college inside an advanced mathematics class, the first day at a new job or a quarter of the way through a marathon. You’re getting a brief idea of day one at an intensive full-time boot camp. I had 35 other classmates and material got thrown at us like the old saying of water from a fire hydrant. My confidence was deflating as I had to routinely visit my friend Google to help me understand how to even start a problem. It also didn’t help that I realized that many of my 35 classmates were in a pre-boot camp program for 6–8 weeks. They were able to slice through the first weeks material in moments and start working on advanced projects from the start. I felt like I started a race with 10 times gravity pushing me down but it didn’t seem to hinder anyone else. This is a brief high-level summary of week 1.
In week 2, I took a deep breath and remembered a quote that I will paraphrase “failure is the lack of trying vs the outcome”. I left a previous career and am diving into savings to pursue this passion. Even though I have feelings of inadequacy, I pushed them to the corner and decided to rise and grind. I started putting in 14–16 hour days to give me time to finish the assignments then go beyond. I was able to join a great study group of ambitious learners. This group provides structure to my learning in two ways. One, it provides a help lifeline if I’m stuck on a topic. Two, it allows me to help others which enhances and secures my learning. This week of hustling has allowed me to catch up with the others in this imaginary race in my mind.
Now that I’m in week three, I feel a lot more confident with my ability to perform in this intensive environment. I’m tired, exhausted even, but my mind is growing at a thrilling pace. This boot camp is not a race against others. I’m racing against myself to become better every day. After all, if you don’t learn more than you currently know then you won’t become more than you are.
