My First Week As A Coding Bootcamp Student
On September 27th of 2018 I decided it was time for a change and enrolled at Bloc.io in the Web Development track. I think it’s only fair to inform you that the title of this post isn’t entirely accurate. You see there was actually a week before my first week as a coding bootcamp student, and I want to talk about that here as well.
Before I begin however, I’d like to tell a little bit about myself so you can better understand my position on attending Bloc.io. I am a twenty-four year old father of two, and I currently work part-time while attending Bloc. I had dabbled in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a couple years before deciding to take the next step and enroll in a bootcamp. If you don’t know what HTML, CSS, or JavaScript is, you don’t need to worry too much. Just know that those are programming languages — a bunch of text written in such a way that the computer can understand it. If you want to actually learn about these languages you can click here to start learning for yourself. At the moment my goal is simply to give you my opinion of Bloc, and provide an overview of what my first week was like.
First, what is Bloc.io? Bloc — according to their landing page — is a “structured, online training programs in software development and design for career-minded adults with busy lives.” What that means is that they are an online bootcamp that allows the flexibility to continue adulting while you learn and work towards becoming a developer/designer.
So, when I enrolled, I had to fill out the usual forms and provide the usual information that literally everyone wants. No big deal. But then there was the week before my start date. There a few things you need to do before you actually start, and that’s what the week prior is for. You complete an assessment to make sure you at least know something about computers, certain software, etc, and then you select your Mentor. Your mentor is the person who will be checking in on you once a week, and ensuring you stay on track and understand what you are learning. Finally, you attend orientation. My orientation was done through zoom, and the guy in charge ran through the basics of the program and answered any questions we had.
All that may sound like I was pretty busy the week prior to starting, but in actuality I completed everything I needed finish and selected my mentor days before orientation. And so I waited the longest wait of my life. I was chomping at the bits to begin, but I had to wait. A little long. One more day. Then, after orientation, I had to wait a couple days longer.
Finally, my first true week at Bloc began. As a student you will immediately come to the Dashboard which has the entire program divided by modules, subdivided by sections, subdivided by checkpoints. You will spend most of your time in a checkpoint. They are articles which explain the course content, and then prompt you for an assignment that you will submit through a text field using Markdown.
The first week went by fast and easy. I had a lot of time to dedicate to the program, and I was familiar with most of the content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). At certain points the checkpoints were trivial, but at others I spent a couple hours smashing keys to complete the assignments. The checkpoints to there job, and teach you want they intend to teach. The thing you need to know is that as a developer you will be tasked with looking up solutions to problems on a daily basis, and so, some of the checkpoints force you to do that. I’ve found myself second guessing if we had even covered some topics in a checkpoint only to realize that I’m responsible for research. I’m responsible for completing the assignments. It can be easy to mistake the checkpoints as exhaustive references when you spend hours a day looking at them, but the truth is that they are there to pick you up so you can start walking on your own.
Submitting assignments feels good. Everything I’ve submitted has been graded in a timely manner, and my grade is returned to me via email. The email response read either “approved” or “revision requested”. Honestly, this is my favorite part of the program so far. When you see “approved” and you realize you did it, it hypes you up. On the flip side, when I saw “revision requested” I couldn’t believe it at first. I messed up? Me? Preposterous! But then I read the email. The graders have consistently explained what I need to take a look at, and how I might start the process of correcting it. That is the best part! When you fail, you don’t die. You don’t loose everything, and you don’t feel disgusted with yourself like I always did during school when I got a D. Instead, this is your opportunity to try again, and this time — with a little of what I like to call “grader guidance” — you will succeed.
As I type, I am actually nearing the end of my first model, having put forty-seven checkpoints behind me. At times it was easy, other times it was a struggle, but I can honestly say that the last week has been worth it. I not only know code, I understand it and that gives me confidence to want to tackle real world projects. That alone is huge. I’ve been stuck in between “knowing code” and being scared to actually do it for so long that it feels good to finally understand code, and want to use it to make something.
So, there you have it. My first week + of as a coding bootcamp student through bloc.io. I’m looking forward to this week and telling you all about it.