Before the Journey…
“Coding boot camp? What’s that?” Those were my thoughts almost 6 months ago as I saw a billboard while driving along I-80. At the time, I was attending school to learn about mobile app development. Naturally, my curiosity took hold and I googled different “coding boot camps” advertised in Utah.
There were surprisingly many options. It was interesting that something I never heard of was so wide spread. I guess there’s a lot I don’t know. The Iron Yard commanded most of my attention, at which I applied for their 12 week course in front-end development. I was accepted, and now I’m about to go full speed ahead. There was a fair amount of introductory pre-work to be done, on which I’ve taken notes from several videos and articles. What I’ve gathered can be summed up as such:
>This boot camp will be extremely difficult. I can’t recall how many times I’ve heard/read that. I get it — this stuff’s hard. But it won’t be impossible. I’m not worried about the difficulty. Living in Uganda for two years as a full time missionary taught me that I can do anything, if I focus and keep working at it.
>I should keep a daily blog. It will help me track my progress and keep me motivated. Got it.
>If I want to have a successful career, I need to master networking skills and be social media savvy. Hooray for the internet! I tend to shy away from posting snippets of my personal life online, but listening people who have gone on before me has swayed my opinion. I need to be more socially active to thrive in this industry. My online presence can make me or break me.
>As I focus on coding for the next 3 months, every thing I do must be intentional and focused. I’ll have the rest of my life to goof off and have fun; now’s the time to work.
>It’s better to be incredibly good at one thing than mediocre at a few things.
>Eventually, it’s going to be a good idea for me to attend tech conferences, and in order to do so (with my company paying for it) I’ll need to arrange to be a speaker… which means I’ll need to learn about public speaking. Luckily, I have a little experience from giving talks in church.
>Be confident. Some of these tips just feel like general pieces of advice for a successful career, albeit true and proven methods.
>Play the long game. It’ll be worth the countless hours and days to come out on top.
I’ve had a ton of information chucked at me by the pre-work, and I’m sure it’s just a taste of what’s to come. Thankfully, my wife is very supportive. Although I’ll barely see her for the next few months, I know she’ll be there for me. It’s an exciting time to be alive.
