GROWTH MINDSET
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything
Well this quote speaks volumes. At least I feel like it does. Maybe that’s because I can relate to it. How? It doesn’t hurt to share. So here goes my exciting journey on how having a growth mindset helped me out…
If you are reading this, and you are a software developer, I bet you have heard about Andela. If you haven’t yet, well, you are missing out on a lot.
Having applied and being called for an interview to the prestigious organization, on the 31st of July I received an email notification which indicated that I had managed to get selected to join the Andela Cohort 31 immerse bootcamp experience. This was an elevated moment for me. But then with it came a realization that it was that time of my life where I needed to put my best foot forward.
A few days later, the cohort was given boot-camp prep materials and resources to learn before we began the challenges. I realized that python was the main language used and I had little knowledge on it. Being a Ruby on Rails developer, I had only learnt python on codecademy to quench my thirst for knowledge. So clearly I had the most basic knowledge on the programming language. Nothing deep. But that did not deter my determination of wanting to join the fellowship. As Antonio Brown said,
The journey is never ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.
So I knew I had to pull up my socks (anyone familiar with this line? lol).
The first challenge was a smooth ride, reason being I was conversant with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Github Pages. However I got to learn about project management using pivotal tracker for the first time. This was not a walk in the park but if you ask how I am fairing on right now? Well, I had the confidence to pose that question. So, you know. That is growth on my part. I searched for online resources (Quick Start and Demos on Pivotal Tracker), asked my peers when I got stuck and implemented all that I had learnt. In the end it all went down well. My first challenge complete.
The second challenge. It was advanced. lol. It was a challenge. Definitely a milestone. I did not think I would be able to create API endpoints using flask, complete them and run tests to ensure they are functional in a week. I knew close to nothing about the Server-Side Framework Flask, the Linting Library Pylint and the Test Framework Pytest. As I mentioned earlier, python and everything that comes with the language was foreign to me.
As they say, people work best under pressure. I had a week to learn and implement all that. I mostly made use of online resources and had to seek for guidance and feedback whenever I got stuck. Shout out to everyone who helped me get through the challenge. Thank you for the support, the guidance and the feedback despite my consistent persistence (please note the rhyme) in asking questions. Good news is I managed to not only learn but also tackle the challenge. Well, its not so perfectly tackled but am growing.
Its been two weeks of the pre-bootcamp. I have learnt so much, interacted with new people, made friends and mostly learnt the value and importance of being EPIC.
Here’s to the late nights, persistence, hard work and commitment which lead to growth.
Nothing comes easy right? But the real question is, are you willing to have a Growth Mindset?
