Part-time coding bootcamp? Why not!
Having almost completed a 6 months part-time Le Wagon bootcamp, I feel it’s now the right time to reflect on the experience.
I had debated whether I wanted to attend a full-time bootcamp (being done in 9 weeks) or part-time (keeping my job, my family’s balance and a bit of a social life -well, that was the idea before Covid 19 at least).
My 5 year old daughter and keeping my job were the overriding reasons why I went for the part-time option.
Although there were online options, Le Wagon was the only school I saw that offered a part-time in-campus version of their bootcamp. I decided back in late 2019 to join their first available intake which was April 2020.
The format is great for people that work, have a family to look after or have other commitments that prevents them from dropping everything for 9 weeks; you are required to work with your buddy/group twice a week in the evening and the whole day on a Saturday and to watch lectures and do your flashcards before class. This could potentially only require a couple of hours, but in my case required longer, as I found that watching the lecture only once was not enough for me to retain information. I discovered pretty early on that re-watching the lecture and re-doing cards after the relevant class made everything much easier to understand, as concepts were less abstract and much easier to retain. It was not unusual that something I struggled with at first would be very easy to understand a week or two later. I discovered quite late that the best way for me was watching the video, pausing and coding along with the presentation. I would highly recommend anyone joining a bootcamp to give this learning style a try.
The best thing I found about the part-time option was that we could allocate time outside of core hours, giving us an opportunity for greater learning. This was especially true when working in a team for the last two projects. We would be coding everyday, pushing something pretty much every evening or morning (we were two morning people and one night owl), allowing us to implement many more features than we had initially planned.
I am in awe of people that complete the bootcamp in the full-time format, I would have potentially tried that had I not had a daughter, but I believe I made the right choice, all be it unknowingly .
If you wish to ask any questions about how I dealt with a busy working mum’s life and a Le Wagon coding bootcamp, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.
E-F-J