The Real First Month After Coding Bootcamp

I completed Flatiron’s Software Engineering course about a month ago. January 29th was one of the most exciting days of my life. My goal was to take the weekend to give my mind a rest and use the first week post bootcamp to prepare for job search. That meant, an hour of code a day while working on the Flatiron Career Prep course online, meeting with my career counselor, and going to online meetups. Plot twist: IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.

My mind needed a break. A week prior to finishing bootcamp, I had to move to Dallas because my lease was up in my Houston apartment. On the Monday before my final project was due, I literally had just reached the minimal viable project. I had spent days coding and I did not want to even look at my laptop. So I didn’t. I setup my new office space and bedroom and allowed myself time to just “be”. Ideally, the second week would be my time to get ready. Plot twist: That didn’t happen either.

While I did attend meetups and engage more on social media with tech twitter, I got boggled down with all of the information out there that I literally didn’t do anything. I did not want to create a resume because I felt like my project wasn’t up to par to include on my resume. In fact, I had broken the sign up feature a day before presenting 😫. Most jobs that I looked at did not require the languages that we learned so I found myself stressing over whether I should learn C or C# or C++ and what is the difference between those?! To Python or not to Python? It was so overwhelming what I thought I needed to learn in such little time.

During the third week, I had plans on finally coding again. Then, the Texas Winter Storm hit leaving us without power for days. With no access to code or to even schedule meetings or meetups, I was forced to use what I had to just create. It brought me back to my initial passion for coding. I started to think of projects I could create with what I know now. Even building on what I know to make my old Flatiron projects even better. Using my notebook, I would sketch layouts and write pseudo code for how I would construct these web applications. I reflected on how at this time last year, I was looking to get into the tech field and now I am looking to figure out what language to learn next. It humbled me to be content with the skills I have but motivated me to learn at my own pace. I don’t have to know everything tomorrow. I just have to work well with what is already in front of me.

So here’s the real after bootcamp talk. Almost a month later I am jobless but I am getting back into the swing of things with a new mind. Ready to embrace the unknown but also ready to implement the projects I have planned.