2.3: Find Your Coding Bootcamp Learning Style / What to Do With Your Body During Lectures

Think about the last time you were in school. How did you best retain information? 

Some people may:

• Take notes (typed or handwritten)
• Fidget
• Sit there and do nothing (listen intently)
• Practice the concepts while they're being taught

There's no right or wrong answer, but for coding bootcamp, you may need to adjust. 

For example, I like the tactile feeling of handwritten notes, however, material is covered so quickly, I frequently get behind.

If I don't take notes, I need something else to do with my hands, lest destruction ensues.  I will absentmindedly pick at my fingernails until they bleed. Sound gross? It is and I am, but I have the feeling you can relate (I'm looking at you, America, who needed literal hand washing instructions at the start of the pandemic). 

So, if handwritten notes are out for me and so is sit there and do nothing, what can I do? Well, I'm still trying to figure that out. I've currently settled on a combination of typing notes, fidgeting, and practicing concepts while they're being taught. 

I feel like that's fine enough for the lectures, but my retention isn't as good, so I will probably have to go back and copy lecture slides by hand. This is annoying, because it seems like even more work, but it is how to get the information to stick. 

You may have to play around and see what works for you, too. 

As for what to do with your body during lectures:

• If you fidget, be discreet and quiet! There's nothing wrong with fidgeting, but make sure your hands are off camera or under your desk. You don't want to distract other students.
• Don't lie down in bed on camera. It is weird. 
• Make sure your body is appropriately dressed before getting on camera
• Standing up/stretching is fine in casual settings. 

Also, because we are all human, there will be a point where you just can't pay attention. Maybe the teacher is progressing too quickly or you have sleep deprivation or personal issues; it doesn't matter. 

Make a note to yourself about the topic before you zone out so you can catch up later. Try to pay attention enough to list any other topics being covered so you don't miss out. Then, this is the most important part:  REFER TO THOSE TOPICS LATER when you are in a better state of mind. 

Lastly, if you're curious about what we covered in class today, we focused on maps, sets, and algorithm problems. Most of it was very interesting, but algorithm problems is where my brain decided to tip its hat in farewell and hop off the wagon. I will have to review those concepts later tonight. ;)

Note: From here on out, I'm going to reference the week and day in this format:
Week.Day
so 2.3 is Week 2 Day 3

Week 2: Day 2: Squeaking Out Questions

Brian is really good about pausing to ask if we have any questions. 

The problem is, I am still learning how to be comfortable talking on Zoom and am afraid to ask any. 

Well, I am proud to report that today I did ask a question! I was awkward and squeaky, but did not die from it. 

Please learn from my thought process:
1. Your instructor is there to help you.

2. You're receiving a ton of information! It's okay if you missed a bit and need clarification. Don't worry about whether or not other people think you're stupid.

         a) Most likely someone else also had that question
         b) Review benefits everyone
         c) On the off chance they think you're dumber than Victim #1 in a horror movie, so what? It's               not like you want to hang around people like that anyway.

3. Everyone in my cohort has been incredibly supportive and awesome. I'm honestly not too worried about c). 

4. If in some alternate universe, everyone in my cohort was judgmental and mean, so what? I'm here for me. I want to learn about software development and the opinions of others shouldn't affect that.

I mention this in case one of you lovely readers is going through a bootcamp or considering it. Don't let fear hold you back! 

Another quick note: 

I often talk about how hard this program is, but you want to know the truth? 

I've never been happier. 

It is hard, but I absolutely love it.  

I enjoy the difficulty. 

It is exhilarating to spend an hour on a program, research what's going wrong, and finally solve it. I enjoy running tests in Eclipse and seeing "Failures: 0".

End of Week 1: I Am Just a Husk

 Scenario:

I am at my desk immersed in correcting my homework. What did I miss? Probably left out a bracket or semi-colon because life is a sick joke and if you miss just one of those symbols, it throws the whole program off. 

I hear the crescendo of footsteps drawing closer. The door creaks open and then the dreaded words:

"Whatcha up to?"

"NOTHING, MIKE. JEEZ!" I reply without looking up from the computer. Suddenly, I remember that is a human being that I am talking to and not the Charizard I "rubber duck" with. 

Snapped out of work mode, I am suddenly filled with shame. I turn to my wonderful husband of eight years and say, "Sorry, Mike. It's been hard. Just doing homework. Oh, and happy birthday!" 

Week 1 Summary: 

Tech Elevator was not lying when they said the program would be time intensive. I don't go to bed until around 1am most days. While the scenario above has been slightly embellished, it is fair to say that I don't have nearly as much time to spend with Mike and my friends. I know it's only temporary, which helps. Plus, you just can't beat the thrill of struggle busing through code until you finally find a solution that works. 

I feel very lucky. My instructor, Brian, is not monotone and comes up with great analogies that make concepts like loops and arrays easy to understand. On Friday he included a very helpful bit about peer programming etiquette and assigned us our first partners. 

I was extremely nervous about starting peer programming. My fear is that I don't know enough and will be deadweight. Thankfully, Ross, my partner, seemed to be in the same boat and was incredibly patient and up for trying anything. For the final exercise we were searching Stack Exchange and Googling different ideas and plugging them in until something worked. One of our classmates, Christina, also swooped in to help and gave us a fresh way to reconsider our code.

It's been hard, but tons of fun. 

Some practical takeaways:

• "Rubber ducking" is the practice of explaining code to something that doesn't talk back. It really is helpful for recognizing errors.
• I took a writing class in college where the class mantra was "kill your darlings". Basically, it means you shouldn't get too attached to what you write; there will always be something better or a way of improving it. You are not your writing. Don't take criticism personally or be afraid of throwing things away. The same principle applies to code. 
• Step away from the computer. Take a break every fifty minutes or so. If I'm feeling really frustrated, I will go to bed and tackle things again in the morning. It's like flipping a switch; I wake up and suddenly everything clicks.

Day 4: Redrum

public String elainasThoughts (boolean understandsClassMaterial) { 

boolean understandsClassMaterials = false; 

String elainasThoughts = ""; 

 

if (understandsClassMaterial == true) {
return elainasThoughts = "Food!";} 

else if (understandsClassMaterial == false) {
return elainasThoughts = "redrum redrum redrum"; } 

 

return elainasThoughts;

}

I'd include a loop in there, but understandsClassMaterial = false.

Day 1: Adjusting

Day one was difficult, but not because of the material. We started our orientation meeting at 9am and didn’t finish our lecture until after 5pm. If this were in person, it would be cake, however, we are dealing with the beast that is Zoom and I found myself utterly exhausted.

Have you heard of Zoom Fatigue? It’s a real thing. Basically, our brains want to process non-verbal cues and that is difficult via video. There are several other stressors involved, but that is the primary cause in most articles.

I had a feeling this would be an issue for me. I talk to several friends on Zoom and Discord weekly and afterwards find myself wanting to take a long nap. Not possible here, but that’s okay. I will pump myself full of caffeine and carry on!

The first day was mostly introducing the tools we’d be working with. We practiced various commands in Bash. After we were comfortable with those, Brian, our instructor, went over how to use Git.

I must say, the Git Pro Git book made me think using Git would be harder than it actually is. After Brian walked us through it, the concepts were much easier to understand.

The Meet and Greet

 Normally, the cohort would meet and learn in person, but due to COVID-19 the school has had to make some adjustments.

We maintain a virtual presence in Sococo, which feels kind of feels like the lamest real-time video game ever. I don’t mean that in the sense that Sococo is bad, but that you can’t shoot other players or slay dragons. Upon logging in, your avatar can enter different rooms and collaborate with other users. We each have a classroom we’re assigned to, which contains links to the Zoom meeting lectures and other materials.

Today’s meet and greet was over Zoom and included sixty people. We were given introductory questions in advance and every person on the call answered them. This has the recipe to be supernaturally long and boring, but it was great fun! I was surprised by the range of ages, backgrounds, interests, etc.

I am a dork, so I took notes. I want to make new friends and learn more about people. I’m really sad that we have to meet online. I’ve never had a learning experience where my anxiety was in check, so I was looking forward to actually interacting with unfamiliar humans, as opposed to running from them.

Intro

I'm Elaina. I'm 29 and I feel fine...sort of. If you don't count the world crashing down around me and the persistent shroud of depression and anxiety that I've struggled to suppress my entire life. :)

No, really, I'm okay. Nowadays, people who don't know me very well might even describe me as bubbly and talkative. I've got the meds to thank for that. Now, the playing field is more even. I'm ready for the next challenge.

Speaking of challenges, I was accepted into a coding boot camp, Tech Elevator. It's the kind that's so intensive, you have to quit your job and pray you will find another when all is said and done. This would be terrifying under normal circumstances, especially for someone like me who grew up fairly poor, but is even more nerve-wracking considering how COVID-19 has affected hiring. 

I like consistency. There is something very special in knowing you can afford your next meal that I will never take for granted. A small part of me fears I may have given that up, but an even greater segment is brimming with excitement...