Taking the plunge to learn how to code can be scary and if it’s brand new for you it can feel completely overwhelming: you’re literally learning a new language. You have to set up your local environment, connect it to your Learn account, and learn how to clone repositories and push code to Github. It’s a lot.
The good news is there are other people just starting out too, and guess what? They are feeling just as confused and frustrated and overwhelmed as you are! Whether you’re learning to code on your own or in a class or boot camp with other people, there’s a community of people out there that are in the same boat as you and there’s guaranteed to be at least one other person who is looking for a study buddy. Find that person or people as soon as you can and stick with them as you’re learning. It makes all the difference.
I’m a true introvert, through and through, so when my cohort-mate Lucy sent a message over Slack to our cohort channel during the first mile asking if anyone wanted to get on Zoom to work through labs together, I surprised myself by responding and agreeing to set a time to meet. Another cohort-mate, Makai, agreed to join too, and shortly after we met up and went over one of the trickier labs together. It was the hugest relief to hear that other people were experiencing something of a struggle with all the new content and we decided to set up weekly meetups. These meetups continued throughout the entire boot camp journey and I truly feel that these meetups and these amazing women are what kept me going all the way to passing the final assessment (which is one of the best feelings in the entire world! And if I can do it, so can you!).
We didn’t stick to our weekly schedule. There were some weeks where we didn’t meet at all. But during project weeks and leading up to assessments we often met multiple times per week and it was very common that a study or review session would last for hours and we’d end up rejoining the same Zoom meeting 4 or 5 times after being kicked out every 40 minutes because none of us have premium Zoom accounts. I cannot stress enough how important these meetups were. Sometimes, when you’ve been stuck on the same lab test for hours, you need a second set of eyes to find that one missing f. before your fields_for in your Rails form. Sometimes there are concepts you just can’t wrap your head around until your friend who does understand the concept can break it down for you in language that makes it click. Sometimes you just need to vent or commiserate with someone going through the same thing you are. Having a friend or two to turn to in these times makes all the difference.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to other people if you’re learning how to code and you feel alone. I’ve found that the coding community truly wants to help and I can guarantee there is someone else who is feeling the same way that you are. And when you find your person or people, stick with them.
Thank you Lucy and Makai! It’s been a long, stressful, and rewarding 10 months going through this boot camp together. I’m so grateful for you both and so excited to graduate together!