How to Successfully Learn in this Bootcamp

emotional cycle of change



Learning Objectives

  • General advice and how to prepare yourself emotionally
  • Some qualities of the most successful students
  • Classroom culture
  • Overview of common student concerns


Emotional Framing

  • Things will not go as you plan

  • Deal with chaos in your head; being confused/lost is NORMAL
  • No one pays you because you know all the answers
  • The job is about jumping into confusion and being able to find a solution
  • Make a friend with discomfort
  • The maximum point of learning is right at the edge of learning and panic

  • This experience is a rollercoaster



Successful students

  • The most successful students find programming fascinating; they don't think of it as an obligation or chore
  • The most successful students go above and beyond what we teach; if there is something they feel they should know, they will go and learn it
  • If there is a problem for which they think they need more information to solve, they go and find that information
  • The most successful students don't wait for instructors to hand them the answer
  • Successful students quickly see that programming is not about learning a recipe, it's about developing a mindset to solve unforeseen problems
  • Hard Work: the equivalent of another full-time job (~40 hrs per week)
  • Be open and ready to receive constructive criticism


Classroom Culture

  • Open safe environment
  • Take ownership of your experience
  • Check your ego at the door
  • Empathy
  • Be courteous calm and patient with others; don't let the stress get to you!
  • Don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to who you were yesterday


Mentorship / Collaborative Culture in the Classroom

  • Take care of each other
  • Benchmarking: some are good at one thing, others at another; leverage each other's strengths
  • Teaching is the best way of truly solidifying your understanding of a concept
  • Your classmates will be the best foundation for establishing a professional network in tech!


Grit

Grit is the power of perserverence in service of a long-term goal. It's a marathon, not a sprint, as they say. In other words, gritty people put in sustained effort over time to achieve a high level of success in their chosen domain.

  • Students have told us: This is like three months of "cramming for finals"
  • Watch this video on Grit


Common Student Concerns

  • I'm making a lot of mistakes

    • Mistakes are a part of life as a developer

  • I don't feel comfortable with the material

    • You probably will never feel the material is easy, but you should be able to do the work
    • By the end of each unit project, you should feel mostly comfortable with applying the material

  • I feel good during class, but it's difficult to innovate on my own

    • There are three stages to learning something:

      • Imitation (follow along)
      • Assimilation (repetitive simple tasks: homework and labs)
      • Innovation (build something new on your own - project time)

  • Everyone at work will realize I know nothing

    • This is called the imposter syndrome, and it's very common
    • Nobody knows everything, it's about how well you learn

  • I don't "do" math

    • That's why we have the computer do it for us!
    • Programming is more about thinking logically than doing equations

  • What's the best practice? What's the one "correct" answer?

    • Best practices change constantly and from company to company
    • If you think properly, you'll probably naturally arrive at a best practice

    • All that matters is "Does it work?"

      • A company that hires someone with 3 months of experience doesn't care too much about code quality
      • Use your time to learn new technology or strengthen your problem solving

  • I don't have a perfect understanding of everything

    • Class is set up to accommodate students of all abilities
    • We make sure you understand at least the most important concepts
    • Only the people who write the specifications for the language understand everything about the language

  • I want an amazing portfolio and to complete all my labs/assignments

    • You won't be happy with how your first projects look/function; what matters is the ability to think

    • Don't worry about completing every lab/homework

      • They are there as an exercise in thinking, with enough material for all.
      • Think of them like putting in the reps when working out.
      • Getting a good night's sleep and NOT completing is far better than completing it and only getting 2 hours of sleep.
      • You just need to complete 80% (or more) of the required (DELIVERABLE) homework. Even then, it doesn't need to be perfect. Just make sure it's more than 3/5 complete and can run without any errors.
      • You don't need to complete (or turn in) any of the NON-DELIVERABLE labs/homework. These are extra reps.



In summary, we ask you to trust the process and know that if you practice what you learn long enough, the skills will come.