Remember back in May
when I took that leap of faith and quit my job during the pandemic? Well, I did do that, and I had no plan B
whatsoever, I didn't even have a plan A for that matter. I honestly did not know what I wanted to do
when I grew up. I was in the same
position for many years and had never really search for a job.
So, I decided at the
beginning that I would take some time off and do some soul searching. Well I learned a few things, the time off
lasted precisely a day and a half and I actually like to be busy and work. I enjoy working. So now I needed to find something to do.
I woke up one
morning and started considering a path in IT.
I questioned if I could make the switch, I had never been inclined
before. Mildly interested in
understanding concepts, but never passionate.
I am not a gamer really, but have always liked the latest tech toy and
figuring them out. Well I started
researching and found a BootCamp program that might be the way to go, and it
was connected to Northwestern, a very solid name. Oh but alas it wasn't free and they were
starting a session in like 2 weeks, this was late May, early June.
Boot Camp got put on
the backburner, but I wouldn't let it drop, I was seriously interested in
it. So I tried to find a way to get the
money together and contacted them. I had
to take an assessment test. Assessment
test? I hadn't taken a test since I was
in college. So I mentally prepared,
which is to say, I took it when I was ready, I had no idea what would be on
it. But they did mention, searching
Google for answers was acceptable. Well
turns out I only needed to search Google to double check I was correct on two
answers. I was proud of myself and I
scored a perfect. Elation and
excitement do not quite convey the feelings I had at this point. I went through the rest of the application
process and spoke to my recruiter, a wonderful gentleman that I had a seriously
long discussion with. It was wonderful. I was so excited.
The program had
prework to complete that was recommended before the class began. So I buckled down and tried to start going
through each module and to complete the tasks that were given to me. I started jumped in and thought, what the
hell have I paid for. (not like
that) I was overwhelmed immediately. All these ideas and information and things
to execute without having any knowledge, was super intimidating. So I got a tutor.
I love my tutor, he
is the best and seriously patient.
Since the program has you dive into so many things before you even
start, its hard to help because there are no concepts, so he would have to
figure out a way to explain things just enough so I would catch on. I was seriously scared I had no idea what I
was doing, and nothing made any sense.
Even though I was executing things and creating static sites (yeah
definitely didn't know what that meant before I started), I conceptually had no
clue what was going on.
I had a breakdown
before the program even started. Ok that
is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was very hard to see that I was progressing
along, when I couldn't remember any of the concepts nor understand any of them.
There were tears and a panic attack due
to the fear that I had committed to something I was not able to handle. That is a real fear, and it wasn't a cheap
commitment. Remember I am having these
doubts and I haven't actually gone through a class yet.
I did things though,
very simple little things, I made a couple of games in a program called
Scratch. I will share them here,
because, well I am proud of myself yes they are simple, but remember I have NO
EXPERIENCE in these matters.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/425573363
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/425568577
The assignment was
to do only one game, I did two, there was a third game that I could have made,
but I got stuck on one part, as there were a couple of concepts I could not
figure out. But I tell you I really liked working in Scratch. Its pretty entertaining.
We also had an
assignment to create a miniwebsite about our favorite preformer. I picked Lady Gaga. I like Lady Gaga, maybe not quite that much, but she was the only one that
came to mind for that assignment. I stressed over this choice. I put more emphasis on content than the actul construction. Anyways, I need
to create a repository so I can display my very rudimentary skills. Repository another term I had no idea what it was.
This was all before
the class started, I had no idea, what I was really getting into, and I took my
time going through the pre-work that was assigned. I did complete it all and exactly one week
before class started. I was quite happy
about that. But I was so scared,
because this was a great unknown. Want
to jar your senses, go do something completely out of your comfort zone.
Jumping into the
abysss, stay tuned for more adventures of the girl who learned to code.