Suncoast Developers Guild
It’s Monday, I’m at work. Business is as usual. Cell phone rings. The number is not familiar and I’m about to shrug it off like I do every time unknown numbers call because Robocalls are annoying! But a gut feeling makes me answer this one…
It’s Toni, from the Suncoast Developers Guild. She speaks with such eloquence that you are easily engaged into a conversation. She’s interested about me, about why I filled the application. She doesn’t seem to be interested in my background, or in the things I know about computers, but she is definitely interested in knowing how passionate I am about them. She’s also asking about my support system, she tells me it’s going to be long hours and a lot of dedication. She sets up an appointment to meet Mark, one of the Core Instructors at SDG, and then we hang up.
There I am, business happening around me, and I am feeling excited.
Two days later I arrive to my appointment a little bit early. I am not familiar with traffic near downtown St. Pete and I don’t want to risk it. Area is quiet but nice, with a hipster vibe to it. I enjoy the surroundings while I wait. Five minutes before my appointment, I ring the bell.
Mark is a Senior Software Developer that works for SDG as an Instructor, I’ll later find out that a pretty good one. He is casually dressed and very courteous. He gives me a tour of their new facilities which are really nice and quiet (I work at a Daycare Center so I can definitely feel the quietness). We sit down and he asks me some questions about me and why I want to participate in the immersive bootcamp they are offering. I spent around 20 mins in the interview and never felt uncomfortable. We talked about really old programming languages (I took some Basic classes when I was 8) and about computers. Overall, it was a pretty good interview and I was told to wait for an email confirming I was approved to participate.
Next couple days passed and I was really looking forward for that email because now I was genuinely excited about all the what if’s. And then…
It’s been now four fantastic weeks into the program. I feel I’ve learned so much since day one. From properly (emphasis on properly) setting up my computer, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and now React.js, Git, Github, node.js, Slack, Code Katas, Meetups, Hack-a-thons and I keep counting.
But it’s not only been a rewarding learning experience but I’ve also met some good people. Folks from really different backgrounds, from students to lead motivation and marketing speakers, young and experienced. In these short four weeks we’ve developed a kind of camaraderie that makes me feel I’ve known them for years. Everyone is always ready to help, to teach, to comfort… to listen.
Heck, we call ourselves Cohort-X, and if I had to pick the best one thing from these four weeks over everything else, I’d pick us. Code On!
