aka: the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

My coding adventure began like most wide-eyed individuals imagining a reality where one could take part in building next generation tools & collaboratively saving the world from impending doom… or is that just me?

Design has always been a part of my being since early on. When I come across a website which draws my attention I quickly open up the user tools and try to figure out what makes it tick. The notion of being able to recreate something similar and improve upon it is what I have fun doing. It would only be a natural progression into making this small hobby of tinkering and commit fully to really get into the nuts & bolts of web-design. So thus began my foray into figuring out WHERE to go and at what capacity in order to maintain my head above the water financially speaking.

Scouring through my emails I would surmise I started out connecting with DevBootcamp around October 2014 to get the ball rolling. I had taken a few light coding courses through the usual routes like codecademy but after taking the initial interview I realized I was definitely not ready at all. What I found from the experience is although they sell the notion of being a program for beginners there is definitely a minimum understanding one needs to have and the definition of “beginner” is a broad one at that.

Not feeling defeated I continued researching while at the same time brushing up on my skills through other courses within codecademy but had also expanded into a paid subscription with codeSchool for about $40/month for that little extra I might need. With working full-time I realized there would be no way I could complete a coding bootcamp unless I really took the pro’s and con’s of doing a complete immersive course and figured out my realistic options. Expensive as it may seem, the prospect of finishing a program and landing a job was enticing yet further research had shown many past students going through a similar program with only one thing to show for, debt.

By that time I had come across two programs [App Academy] and General Assembly and attended an info-session for the latter. I came to grips with the reality of which I would have to be ok with enlisting into a program requiring me to quit/postpone my job AND take on some debt with no guarantee of finding a job. It was a bit unsettling to say the least being 35 years old, born and raised in Silicon Valley (skyrocketing rent) and tired of paying off school loans which never amounted to anything “DeVry, thanks a lot!” - a #winning combination!

Coming to terms with my then reality I decided to start the application process for AppAcademy and eventually got to the final 3rd interview after a few months of setting up appropriate times for each interview. Sadly though after so much time and effort, it ended in flames. I had not been aware AppAcademy implemented a policy which did not allow for anyone to re-apply to their program and after my unsuccessful attempt I was basically out of luck with their program for the foreseeable future. On to the next one…

By this point in the game I had mulled over my options a bit more in depth making sure nothing in any bootcamp’s policies would keep me from achieving some level of success throughout this endeavor. Already having a small network of industry professionals helping out with their perspective I teetered between going the self taught way or continue to search for a more fitting coding program. Although I would love to consider myself savvy enough to focus on one thing for months on end, I still had to consider the limited flexibility my regular job added to the mix. Working in customer service means irregular hours and not really having a set schedule I could rely on. Could I even consider going my own way through sites like The Odin Project or Udemy and really get a shot at landing a job somewhere? Probably not. I for one thrive better with timelines and goals so I continued to search for a program. I decided to keep my coding chops fresh by attempting the Michael Hartl’s Ruby on Rails tutorial and realized having a Windows 7 laptop is a pain in the butt. For this predicament site’s like c9.io or codepen are a godsend and I should probably upgrade my laptop and make the jump to a mac.

Going through the Rails tutorial allowed me to see exactly what a framework is and learned quite a lot going through the tutorial but worried I wouldn’t retain the information if I didn’t put it into practice soon after. As with anything, if you don’t use it you lose it and lucky for me it was around the tail end of this tutorial when my girlfriend had come accross [Bloc.io] and mentioned they full-stack web development course. Suffice it to say I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.

Bloc.io was different in how they implemented the courseload. Unlike bootcamps who promise to create you into a full fledged coder so long as you eat, drink & sleep code for 10 - 12 weeks would you be given the necessary chops to become a Junior Developer. With Bloc it was different, one could choose between program lengths and not have to give up the day job. Already saddled with a bit of debt it was the best option for me and I haven’t looked back.

The environment which has been built around the program is solid with many avenues of support betwen the Bloc team, the mentors who have realistic insight into the industry, and students going through the program. The networking cabailities are endless and will most likely last for quite some time.

I’m currently 21% through the course and this post is part of an assignment… and here I thought I’d have nothing to write about.