What are three new things you have learnt about yourself and your ego due to the core learning?
Handling difficult situations
Thanks to the core part of the foundation course I learned a lot about neuroplasticity and it helped me realise that this nasty voice in my head appeared from having a fixed mindset. I would often start something that I found really interesting and intriguing but as soon as I met some difficulties or got bored of the monotonous part of the project I would just give up on it and move on to something else. Now I know that it’s absolutely normal to have such thoughts, the difference is the way you approach them. In order to build and master new skills I have to put in more effort and embrace the challenges.
Time management
It definitely requires a lot of organisational skills to finish foundations. I can’t say I was bad at managing my time in the past but I would spend a lot of time procrastinating if I got distracted. I like the idea of using a timer to track your process and it definitely motivates you to work harder seeing consistency in learning hours.
Asking for help
This is something I still need to work on. While I do understand that sometimes it’s just easier to ask rather than looking for a simple solution for hours, something still stops me from doing that. I guess I was very independent from childhood trying to solve all my problems on my own. asking for help doesn't always feel right and seems like a weakness even though it’s absolutely normal and in order to achieve better results and improve the skills I need to ask for help. Besides, it’s a great way to get close to other students on a discord channel and the facilitators as well.
What are the roles of values, empathy, and self-awareness in learning and programming?
Your values, empathy and self-awareness play a huge role in the process of becoming a programmer. Employers are looking for specific qualities in people and a good fit in their team rather than a perfect set of skills. Besides, you can’t gain that perfect set of skills in the first place if you’re being hard on yourself. Learning programming is a long process, it’s not easy and requires a lot of tolerance and hard work.
What has surprised you the most about core learning?
I really enjoyed trying meditation. I was always kind of sceptical towards it but I followed the dev academy recommendation of implementing it into daily life and I could see the results from it straight away. While some parts of foundations plus the life outside of course was a bit stressful, daily meditation practice helped to bring me back to a present moment and talk it slowly step by step, relieving me from anxiety.
What were the most challenging aspects of the core learning?
I found writing blogs the most challenging part. While I really enjoy the tech part even though it can be challenging and hard it’s nothing compared to writing for me. I used to avoid it my whole life and now I'm forced to do it every week. To be honest, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would've. And I find the whole core section such an excellent playground for your soft skills that helps to prepare for the future interviews.
Why do you think we, a programming school, are spending so much time focusing on core learning in a web development Bootcamp course
Even though we’re being taught a huge amount of information within these few months, it only provides a basic understanding of programming languages and tools. But what this school gives you that no university teaches you is how to learn independently and how to solve problems on your own, how to look for a solution and most importantly it gives you a set of skills that lets your ego work in a beneficial way for you. Instead of thinking that you can’t solve the problem and giving up on it, you learn how to separate your emotions from reality and step by step solve the problem you’re facing. Besides, this course teaches you soft skills which are often considered more important than your programming skills. Employers are looking for people to work with, not for machines.
Does the time you spent studying core learning here feel like a waste of time? Should you have just used that time to practise programming instead? Justify your answer.
To be honest, it did feel like a waste of time at some point, but now, at the end of foundations, I realise that it was a consequence of internal resistance and see how much it helped me to go through this process and will definitely help in the bootcamp and in future life. It taught me to appreciate where I am now and enjoy every little success I experience. Practising mindfulness showed me how overwhelmed with thoughts I always am and slowly taught me how to stay focused and to be in the moment. I am really grateful for this amazing journey that just began. Thank you ❤️