How I felt entering bootcamp vs. how I feel after 2 months 
Tags: webdev, beginners, productivity
Published: 2020-10-07 13:57:36

Hey guys, my name is Tanner.  I'm a 28 year old bootcamp student from Richmond, Virginia. A few months ago, I decided to enroll in a Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp after working in the special education field for a little over 5 years.  Quite the transition, huh?  I knew I needed a change, but didn't know which direction to head.  A friend of mine recommended I enroll in a Web Development Bootcamp.  I was hesitant about this field considering I had no previous experience with programming or even computers in general.

I decided to test the waters by taking a few free courses on HTML and CSS. I was surprised to find that it was interesting and something I could see myself really diving into and enjoying.  After getting my ducks in a row and figuring out a plan of action, I enrolled in the University of Richmond Full Stack Bootcamp.

I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I felt pretty good leading up to the first day of class.  I had some time to prepare and familiarize myself with the basics of front-end programming.  The first couple weeks of class felt like a breeze, spent mainly getting familiar with all of our tools as well as basic HTML and CSS and then BAM! - JavaScript hit.  

I knew that we would get into JavaScript somewhat early in the course, but I was not prepared for how intensive it would be.  I was like, wait a minute, we were literally JUST figuring out how to implement Bootstrap on a static page and now we are programming functional applications from scratch?  

The learning curve is massive.  It will test you.  It is demoralizing at times.  You will have no idea what you are doing most of the time, and you have to get used to that.  That is the bootcamp feel.  This is in no way a conventional learning process that most of us are used to.  There are no quizzes, there are no tests - just homework assignments and projects where you have to display the knowledge you have been taught and then a lot more. Don't be surprised if you have to spend multiple hours on each assignment trying to fix a bug that you were in no way taught to handle in class. If you can imagine trying to juggle (when you already don't know to juggle) while someone is constantly throwing new balls at you to incorporate into your routine, this is exactly what it feels like to be in a bootcamp.

When the course got tough, I made the huge mistake of comparing myself to others in my cohort.  It is imperative that you do not make this mistake if you want to be successful in this environment.  Everyone has their own style of learning, and at the end of the day, it's all about what you can absorb from the course and how that influences your individual goals and aspirations.  In reality, we have no idea what is going on behind the scenes with other students.  They might be receiving extra outside help, have prior experience, or are just picking up the current information at a faster pace for whatever reason.

After 2 months in the course, I can say that I am amazed at how far I've come and all I've learned in such a short period of time. I have been given the opportunity to work and collaborate with a talented group of individuals that have only boosted my knowledge and practical development skills. This is one major takeaway from the bootcamp environment that I will always try to harp on.  The community you are involved with is everything.  You spend hours with your fellow students collaborating, creating new ideas, fixing bugs, and more. If you are involved with a good group of people, you will see your productivity skyrocket, and hopefully, your self confidence as well.  It might not feel like it in the present time, but if you are putting in the effort, working diligently on your assignments and taking advantage of all the resources the bootcamp has to offer, you will see results!  With that said, I still have no idea what I'm doing, and that's okay. 

If you are considering enrolling in a bootcamp, I hope this article inspires you to take this challenge head on, without looking back.  In the end, you will be glad you did it.