Rewiring mum brain at coding boot camp: 1st week done!
So I left my Hotel Management career about three years ago to concentrate on my family… Now, 2 kids later, I am in the process of rewiring my brain to join the tech industry in search of a better work/life balance.
Here is what I learned from week one of coding boot camp:
Most of the study material in the first week I was already familiar with, therefore the study load was manageable. I still enjoyed going over everything and getting a deeper understanding of things like the Terminal & Git. Also covered the basics of HTML and CSS which I haven’t touched much in the last year, having concentrated more on programming languages such as JavaScript, React and Ruby, so it was nice to have a refresher on those.
Like I said, most of the topics covered in week one I was familiar with so I didn’t feel very overwhelmed with the tech side of things.
What I did struggle with this week was letting go of my previous responsibilities: the kids. I have a 2 year old boy Leon and a one year old girl Nola. They mean the most to me in this whole wide world and a large part of why I am doing this boot camp is to be a better mother to my two beautiful kids.
I am very fortunate to have an amazing partner and a super dad, who has gone through a coding boot camp himself so is very aware of the pressure I will be under to get the most out of this course. He has taken on the role of a full time dad for the next six months as well as being the sole provider for the family. With a brighter future in sight, we will get through this together.
The thing I am most scared of is that I have already started doubting myself and left wondering how mentally and physically challenging this whole process is going to be on me. On Twitter I started following other students from my cohort, as well as campuses in Sydney and Melbourne, to follow everyones journey, but seeing so many of them already doing some amazing side projects, left me feeling deflated.
The self doubt will not stop me from finishing what I have started! It will be a tough journey but it will be worth it in the end. The love of coding and my family will get me through this and I am still excited to see what the next few months will bring. Yes, I have got plenty to work on in the coming weeks, but I know one day I will look back at this post and be proud of everything I have achieved.
In the words of Theodore Roosevelt:
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
So, things I need to work on in the next week:
Exercise in the morning to get myself physically and mentally best prepared for the day!
Letting my partner take the lead in looking after the children, which should leave me with a few extra hours a day to work on coursework and projects!
Positive thinking! Don’t let the negative thoughts take over, cause the doubt will not disappear over night.