The journey to Andela
Learning is a lifelong experience. In the world of technology, you can’t do away with learning, because of the ever-changing and volatile tech industry. However pleasure in life is achieved by undertaking challenging ventures, and being awesome at them.
On the 28th of March 2017, I landed on an Andela Bootcamp Facebook ad, which I thought to myself to I give a shot. I was graced with the chance to take on the Andela experience, three days to the application deadline for the Uganda Cohort. After submitting the required documents, i.e. CV, Cover Letter and other related personal details, I received a Home Study Curriculum, which I had to go through thoroughly before taking the Home Study Test.
I had to learn a totally new programming language to me in 4 days, in order to qualify for the next step. Python, to me, was a totally new language. However, I had experience with several other programming languages before, but this was a challenging one. I had to learn a completely new syntax and a completely new development paradigm. Ooh, wow!! With that in mind, I had to do brain yoga, to ensure that I don’t miss out on the awesome opportunity. I had done a lot of background study about the company, and I understood how competitive and engaging the race shall be.
Material from about 10 chapters had to be covered by me in 4 days, before the test. That was like climbing Mt. Everest in 4 days. I took on the challenge, concentrated to ensure that I leave no stone unturned. Driven by passion and commitment, I took on several tutorials from tutorials point, code academy, w3schools and many other e-learning environments.
Towards the fourth day, with my brain muscles fully stretched, I felt like giving up, because I had only covered 68% of the python course at code academy and I had only read 3 chapters out of the 10. Faced with my worst fears, I had to gird up like a man, get the best reading plan, and then face the challenge before me. That meant, I had to take more time reading, through the night and early in the morning to ensure that I was up to speed and ready for the challenge in the next few days.
I started doing the Home study test three days to the closure of the deadline. The programming labs were really challenging, because there were many hidden tests that you couldn’t just land on without a thorough think through. Tests would fail to run, but I kept on improving my code, up to when I would get my solutions up and running.
God was good on my side, I finished one day to the end of the deadline. I really felt great and rewarded to receive an email informing that I had passed the Home study test, after which I was invited for the interview.
I had never taken on any challenging and yet fruitful learning experience comparable to the one I undertook with Andela. I’m now proud to be part of the Andela family, though it wasn’t an easy route.
