Nevertheless, I coded: My journey as a newly dev
Tags: wecoded, womenintech, devjournal, yearinreview
Published: 2021-12-30 14:20:47

#<h1> Hola Mundo! </h1>
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It was early 2021, I was in a job where I was treated poorly and with a contract that we could call precarious when I finally snapped ☠️.

So in that mental state I sat down and asked myself: Silvia, **if you could do anything** to feel better, to grow, to be yourself, **what would you do?** And the answer was **to redo myself**

Silvia had spoken and Silvia obeyed. But even if this sounds simple, is not. Quitting your job is terrifying, learning something new is also terrifying but I had the privilege that I had family support to jump into this💕. 

I did a lot of research and went into a bootcamp - [and wrote about it](https://dev.to/silviaespanagil/my-experience-in-a-coding-bootcamp-475k) - the day I was accepted I just knew that this was going to be a life changing thing and oh! I was soooo right. 

After the bootcamp finished the change was UBER REAL. I was in a tornado 🌪️ wanting to learn new things but also to delve into what I've learned, at the same time I had to look for a job with all that this implies: interviews, tech test, code test, tech interviews and more interviews. But also rejection, missing feedback and long waitings 😣. 

The yes came and it came from THE company. The one I wanted the most and came with a proposal I was not expecting at all and it was to join a Mentorship Program as a **Mobile Developer** 🤳

**WHAT!**

The fact that they were willing to train me as a Mobile Developer - something I had in my dream dev path - just sounded crazy to me and I was and am so grateful for this that I can't put words on it. 

So...after 7 months of me quitting and studying my heart out. I was not only coding but I was flying to Berlin 🇩🇪 🛫 and to Barcelona 🇪🇸 🛬 for onboarding and to meet my mentor. 

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## The best of my journey
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###The people I've met 👥
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My bootcamp pals are inspiration each of these amazing women have wonderful stories of overcoming and meeting them and befriending them has been incredible 💗.

Also the dev community has been an amazing surprise for me. The will to help and the support it's beautiful. I've met amazing people some of them I work with, I admire them, they are amazing professionals, incredible humans and they inspire me so much not only to be a good dev but also to be open and share my experiences and my knowledge - however small it is ✨.
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### The mentorship program 📱

Imagine this amazing women, proposing a company to hire more juniors, and more women. Well that happened and that's how [Nadia](https://twitter.com/drivemenads), [Ilia](https://twitter.com/si_ayer_estaba) and [Olga](https://twitter.com/ocollp) changed our worlds. 

And I say _our_ because the program welcomed seven women in a first stage and I'm sure it will keep growing 💪. 

><small>PD: If you are reading this, and you think you can do >something like this do it, go for it, ask for it. You already have the "No" so, there's nothing to lose but a lot to win🏆</small>

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###My mentors 👨‍💻

I've had two mentors. One was assigned to me by the bootcamp and he helped me a lot in the journey of finding my first job in dev 👨‍💻. But most of all he helped me in believing in myself, in what I was able to do, and for that I'm forever grateful.

My second mentor is from my job. And oh! the things I've learned from him. He's totally selfless and open with his knowledge and experience. He've taught me a lot about coding but also about being a good teammate. 

Both of them has inspired me a lot and has made me want to be a mentor sometime in my life because I want to give back what they have gave to me: support, trust and experience 🙌
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### Knowing I can 🦾

If you had told the _one year ago Silvia_ that all this was going to happen to her, she would have laughed for three hours and would not have believed it🙅‍♀️.

Sometimes the _right now Silvia_ can't believe it either. But  when I look back to my first `<h1>Hola mundo!</h1> `and all I've done until my first 
```swift
Text("Hola mundo")
     .font(.title)
``` I feel proud of myself. Of everything I've done, of my frustrations, celebrations and efforts. 

I wouldn't change a thing, because nevertheless, I coded and I'll keep doing it 👩🏻‍💻. Let's see what 2022 have for me.