How I have Adapted so far at the Andela Bootcamp

Olusola Oseni
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

Well, I start by saying it has not been easy to adapt, but it has been possible so far. How? A combination of factors which I will share later. But first I’ll like to talk about the not easy part and how I have adapted.

Coming to the bootcamp have instilled a believe in me that anything is possible, all you need is the will(sheer hustle) and the determination to surmount all tasks and challenges that come your way. The Bootcamp for the month of July, 2017 took a new dimension, that is, new concepts where introduced. Here, you own your learning! What does that mean actually? Unlike previous bootcamps where you will be taught some coding skills and soft skills by the facilitators which also helps in easing tension and fear of the unknown, as been abolished and the new concept mentioned above have been embraced. Here your are provided with various learning tools(videos) which teaches you the minimum skill set you will need to scale through some challenges and your understanding of does skill set and their application will determine how well you progress at bootcamp.

Another new concept was starting your project at the beginning of the camp. You are required to implement all that you have learned into your project on a daily basis which would be assessed at the end of the week. For me this is where the real test of adaptability started. Writing a few code with their tests can be challenging but working on a project to create an app was like way over my league; why? I have never done that before. So a single question arose in my mind on the first day of bootcamp; How am I going to accomplish this task? As it is said, man’s natural instinct is flight but for me I started scheming how to over the interesting challenges being presented to me. I had to secret weapons which I was well aware of; my colleagues and my BFA. I was determined to use them to my advantage by asking them questions and asking them more questions. The good thing about this is that it was a give and take situation, not for the BFA’s because they were the one’s always sharing their knowledge, between I and my colleagues because I also had to solve some one else’s problems.

In essence what I was saying at the beginning of this post which I termed a combination of factors can be collectively called collaboration. In addition to this, I spent sleepless night studying and researching many new concepts which I did not understand and trying to make sense out of them, some even leading to frustrations, but in this case those frustrations where actually a sign of learning. I also watched a lot of YouTube videos and the internet became my bread and water.

In summary, though it has been challenging, It has also been rewarding and exciting! Me building an app is the best thing I have ever done in programming and I intend to continue on this path no matter how rough it might be and I am fully convinced that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I’m gradually matching in becoming a world class software developer

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