Top 7
By: Wendy Raven Mcnair
Tags: Coding, Flatiron School, Technology, Bootcamp, Students

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels

As my Flatiron journey nears conclusion, I find myself thinking of the things I wish I’d known to avoid pitfalls and improve on this incredible opportunity. So here’s a list of seven cherry things that I believe will improve your Flatiron experience.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Because you can do this. Don’t get discouraged over the progress others appear to be making. Concentrate on doing what you need to do to gain the skills and understanding necessary for you to achieve. If you trust and believe in yourself, you will do the things necessary to progress and succeed in the program.

BE PREPARED! Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, dive deeper than just the surface BEFORE starting the program. The pace of the program is fast and relentless so being well informed on those topics puts you ahead of the game so you’re better able to keep up and absorb the material. Flatiron offers free prep courses on these topics. So take full advantage of them not only to become more knowledgeable about the material but additionally to familiarize yourself with the Learnco platform that Flatiron uses to deliver its courses. The program also covers Sinatra, Rails, React and Redux so gain as much pre-knowledge as you can on those as well. Signup for and familiarize yourself with Github. It’s a version control site where you store your code for safe keeping. Students are required to have an account and store their projects there so knowing how to fork, clone, and push is very beneficial. And last but still extremely important, learn how to debug your code with pry and debugger. It’s the bad tasting medicine that will save your programming life. Honestly, you may hate using them in the beginning but they’re an absolute must for gaining insight into and comprehending what’s happening in your code.

GET ORGANIZED! You will be working with a ton of material so being organized will help you quickly locate resources you need to resolve coding issues and learn new technologies. Yes, you will wear Google out, tracking down answers, but I found it equally beneficial to have a computer filing system and browser tabs maintaining pertinent information on various topics (ex. Ruby with sub-folders on objects, array manipulation, etc). So I could consult these resources without having to go re-hunt everything down over and over again. Utilize your organization skills to save you wasted time so you can stay on track and on pace.

HEALTH FIRST! You may think you’re invincible but if your health breaks down, you jeopardize your ability to learn which impacts your progression in the program and could potentially cause you to drop out all together. Do not sit at your computer from sun up to way past sun down, neglecting proper sleep, diet, and exercise. Taking care of your health will allow you to perform better in the program. Your performance suffers if you’re exhausted and malnourished and your thinking is foggy and confused. Being mentally alert and able to focus your mind on tracking coding processes is crucial to becoming a programmer.

SPEAK UP! Ask your instructor. Ask your fellow cohort members. Ask Google. Ask yourself! But keep asking until you gain understanding or find the solution. If you don’t speak up and actively hunt down answers, you will waste time struggling unnecessarily. So set pride aside, you’re here to learn, and the quicker you get answers the sooner you get to apply them in your code and gain more clarity on how it works. Nobody is going to laugh or ridicule you. And in that rare instance you come across somebody who does, be thankful they identified themself as somebody you don’t have to waste your time on. Because your time is valuable in this program and should be focused on the things and people who will help you advance.

REWARD YOURSELF! Yes, coding is rewarding in and of itself but it’s also very challenging. To stay motivated, take moments to celebrate your progress and savor your accomplishments. Treat yourself to something special to commemorate the incredible job you’re doing as you advance in your dream of becoming a programmer!

DON’T QUIT! Unless you discover you absolutely hate coding, DO NOT GIVE UP! When wading through new material, it may seem impossible and insurmountable. But keep coming at it, asking questions, trying different solutions, trying to explain it to others, and constantly searching for deeper insight and clarity. Eventually it will begin to make sense and the things that initially caused you the greatest confusion, will seem simple and obvious to you.

Okay, that’s all seven so I’ll wrap this up. My Flatiron experience has been extremely challenging in ways too personal to share publicly. It’s also been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I’m glad I made the decision to pursue my dream of becoming a programmer. And I hope these seven tips help you in your pursuit of your dream as well.