Adaptability: my Andela bootcamp experience

Being a part of Andela bootcamp has not been an easy task for me personally, though it has been a great eye opener. Spending hours daily trying to wrap my mind around new tools and practices. Reading, searching, asking and debugging on a frequent basis. Aside from the programming language we are using, I’m basically not familiar with most of the tools and practices we employ at bootcamp. Git workflow, our style of authentication, test driven development (TDD) and so on are some of the new things I’m learning how to do. There are a lot of soft skills in-between as well.
There is a popular saying that “change is the only constant thing in life”, dealing with change is what adaptability is all about. Cambridge dictionary defines it as the ability to become adjusted to new conditions. Bootcamp is a new condition, a new environment and I’m adjusting to it.
How I’ve been able to adapt at bootcamp
Like I earlier said, it has not been easy but I’m adapting and here is how:
Searching: Knowing how to use popular search engines out there (google most especially) has been quite helpful. Most of the bugs, errors and challenges I face have been solved by someone somewhere, all I need to do is find the solution and use it. This alone has been quite liberating.

Collaboration: Programming is tough. One of the best ways people have been able to work around the difficulty that comes with programming is by encouraging collaboration. Collaboration in this context means seeking and providing help to people on your team or around you. With collaboration, I’ve been able to complete tasks on time, fix bugs easily and have fun writing codes. My group members and bootcamp facilitators have been quite helpful.

Reading: Careful study of errors and where they come from is another way I’m adapting at bootcamp. Before one can ask questions of a colleague, one should at least know what kind of problem he’s trying to solve. Understanding the problem helps a long way in solving it.

Aside from the methods mentioned above, I’ve been sleeping less, eating light so I don’t get tired easily and building relationships with people who could help and those I can provide help to. It has been a challenging and exciting experience for me.
There you have my adaptability at Andela bootcamp. Thanks for reading.
