Why I joined a coding bootcamp
I was 25. I couldn’t figure out the direction for my life. I had several failed attempts at a higher education,but I could never find my happiness at a university. I began to search for alternative ways to get an education that wouldn’t take me four years to get into the workforce. I finally came across Wyncode Academy, a 9week coding bootcamp. I read that it would allow me to enter the workforce and make a decent salary without investing years to get me there. This was the perfect solution for me.
Did I know anything about a coding language going into this? Only the bare basics.
Choosing the direction of whether to go to a traditional school or an alternative school can be a daunting task. You really have to decide what is the best path for you. A bootcamp was the best path for ME. It was a hard experience. It was not easy. I had to get out of my comfort zone. I had to shut off my world for 9weeks—eating, breathing, and sleeping code. My family would only see me for five minutes when I would come out of my room to get a cup of coffee and leave to go to Wyncode to begin my day. But, it was a small sacrifice and a short season in my life that would eventually end.
What was my experience like?
Beginning a coding bootcamp was like beginning middle school all over again. I walked into a room of twenty-five people, from 20 year olds to 55. We looked at each other, not knowing what to say to one another.
We were from all different walks of life. Some of us were lawyers, some of us were business owners, and some of us were looking to do something different with our careers. Mostly, we were all looking for a change and to breathe new life into us.
Our days would begin early. We would get to our classroom around 7:30 in the morning to begin coding. If one of us didn’t understand a homework problem, we had someone who knew how to solve the problem. We always had someone that would explain the why and the how to get to a solution.
At around 10 in the morning, we would begin our lectures on various topics. In the afternoon, we had some type of activity to apply what we had just learned, like a hackathon or a live coding session. We would end our lectures around 4:00 in the afternoon. After that time was where the real learning and my curiosity for coding began. I had all this knowledge I had just learned, but now I had to apply it on my own.
Toward the end of my bootcamp experience, it was finally time to apply what I had learned from the previous weeks. We worked in teams to build full-stack applications and give real pitches to judges. It simulated what it would be like to pitch an idea to real investors.
Even though my time at my bootcamp ended, my time as a web developer was just beginning. I learned enough to keep my curiosity there and to keep going. On our last day of our bootcamp, we were told to keep the ABCs—Always Be Coding. That rang true for me.
During my bootcamp tenure, I learned Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as my foundation. It was a good foundation to begin with because I was taught fundamentals and theories that could be applied to different languages. My curiosity, in the end, was what pushed me to seek out more in coding languages.After my last day of my bootcamp, I committed myself to being a JavaScript developer. I began learning other JavaScript libraries that would not only make a desirable candidate to hire, but also make me happy and interested in what I was doing.
Fast-forward a couple of years later. I am now the lead web developer for a small communications company. I’m still a constant learner, but now I get to invest into the people I get to help lead. I look forward to going to work everyday, and it all started with going to a coding bootcamp.
The best part of my bootcamp experience was the confidence I gained to succeed in the workforce. I believe in myself and finally have the “I can” attitude that I had been lacking. Doors have opened for me that I didn’t know I wanted open. I gained an unbeknownst family that shared a great experience with me. I gained a business acumen that has set me apart from the person next to me.
Going to a coding bootcamp was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My only wish is I would have done it sooner.
About the author
Mary Gualtieri is a full stack web developer and web designer who enjoys all aspects of the Web and creating a pleasant user experience. Web development, specifically frontend development, is an interest of hers because it challenges her to think outside the box and solve problems, all while constantly learning. She can be found on GitHub as MaryGualtieri.