Upon wrapping up Foundations, I am still as interested and committed to completing Dev Academy and fulfilling my dream of a career in web development, as I was before I started the course. I am hoping that the combination of intensive programming skills and core learning will allow me to hit the ground running when I'm finished and begin this new career as a well-rounded employee, motivated and striving to learn. With a newfound confidence in my coding skillset, and my prior work experience, I would like to think that a future employer would find me a beneficial asset to their team.
My biggest strength in Bootcamp remains my ability to hyperfocus when I'm keenly interested and dedicated. Being part way through the course means I am even closer to reaching that end goal of being able to call myself a programmer, which adds to my drive to finish and do well. I'm like a sponge at the moment, eager to learn as much as I can! I've learned techniques to counteract my tendency to become easily distracted, by breaking up the day.
I still find myself limited by my negative thinking occasionally, particularly if I'm feeling stuck or anxious. As I go along this journey, however, I'm learning not to listen to that mean voice as much that tells me I'm not capable or cut out for this. I anticipate that Bootcamp will be even more challenging and stressful, so I'm mentally preparing for this now.
My biggest non-technical challenge at Bootcamp will likely be how I work and interact with others when pair or group programming. I have concerns that I won't be able to keep up with them, or that they're far more experienced/talented/skilled than I am. Again, it's that negative voice, and I hope I can prove wrong it after a few weeks in. I'd love for my ability to communicate with others at a technical level to be developed, and be able to present and discuss programming in a concise and clear way.
I see the Bootcamp facilitators continuing to support and guide this learning journey, helping me to understand concepts, work through problems and mentor me to figure out solutions for myself. Just knowing that they are there and available means that if I am feeling completely blocked, there is someone there that can help me through it.
My ability to seek help by reaching out on Discord is improving, and I plan on maintaining this during Bootcamp. To keep up with the projects and learning material, there's no time for me to agonise for hours on end on a problem, and if I've given it a good go and exhausted my self-solving tactics, I know I need to ask someone.
On the flipside, I am very easily distracted and need to actively prevent distractions and proscrastination. Even simple tasks take a bit of a mental exercise to get me to begin them! In addition, I can be quite hard on myself when I don't pick something up right away or it's not making sense. That annoying self-doubt voice likes to pop up, which I also need to actively stop.
To work productively and safely with others, I will incorporate kindness, understanding and knowledge-sharing with everyone I interact with. Being in the online-only cohort, words can be misconstrued in chats, and limited face-time with my peers and facilitators means I need to take extra effort to be thoughtful in what I say and do. I also want others to know that I am safe to talk to - I will do my utmost best to be understanding and non-judgemental.
When things get overwhelming, or I'm finding myself in too much a state of anxiety, this is my cue to take a step back and breathe. Self-care is as important as the learning itself. If it is learning related, I can reach out to my peers or my facilitators to help work through it. I will give it a good attempt to figure it out for myself but there is a point, perhaps after a few hours if I'm not getting anywhere, that I need to reach out to someone else. This is not only to help with time, but also so I don't get too much inside my head with negativity. If it is personal, I have excellent support in my home life if I am needing additional help managing my time, need a moment to do something mindful or just need to vent to someone.
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