DEV Community: JacobWashington

What Can James Baldwin Teach Us About Programming?

JacobWashington — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 10:52:17 +0000

Well, I had said I was going to be a writer, God, Satan, and Mississippi notwithstanding, and that color didn't matter, and that I was going to be free. And, here I was, left with only myself to deal with. It was entirely up to me.

-James Baldwin

I've loved this quote for a long time. For years now, I've found inspiration in it. It's given me the confidence, at times, to let its resounding sentiment guide my life. The shear gall of the man, or any person, who faced a system as all encompassing as Jim Crow segregation — who's grandparents, and their parents before them, had been enslaved on the very ground he now walked — and decided, in a moment, that it would not define him. That he would not be limited by all that came before him, or by all that stands ahead of him now. To overcome the circumstance, no matter the cost, because, that is what it meant to be free. But until now, I'd never truly heard this quote.

I'm a budding developer, currently attending my second coding boot-camp at General Assembly (GA). I'm not rich, and as deserving as some may be (GA in particular), I don't love making twenty-thousand dollar contributions to coding boots-camps only to spend 8 to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (that first boot-camp was rough), wracking my brain as I squeeze several years of learning into just a few months. So, let me tell you why this is my second shot at a coding program. Many of you already know the culprit.

IMPOSTER SYNDROME.

I know, we're all tired of hearing it. It seems like anywhere you look in tech, it's imposter syndrome this, and imposter syndrome that. But let's be for real. What really is imposter syndrome? Sure, we all doubt ourselves, but humans are naturally insecure. We want to be included. We want the necessary knowledge to be a part of the group, particularly in programming, where, everywhere, we see the developers who have been our Northern Stars — those that make content for learners and are invited to speak at conferences, who got you to write your first "hello world" and code your own chatbot. Not since the discovery of diamond have we seen so many sparkling things. But those insecurities and doubts are not imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is much further reaching, and far more devastating than a voice in the back of your head asking if you're all that you've hyped yourself up to be. Imposter syndrome is believing that, in that field of diamonds, you're just a lump of coal.

You might be wondering how that's different from everything I named before. Isn't the nagging voice, the one telling you you're not ready for the next step, or even that next line of code, only a symptom of imposter syndrome? Don't developers, those who are diamonds, face every challenge with ease and grace? Is struggle not something they stand before with poise and confidence, and every adjective which projects fortitude and success? Well, yes. That voice can be imposter syndrome. Some developers do think they're model T-5000 terminators of Computer Science and software development (surprised?). Other developers are just, truly, great. But being intimidated by their success, or knowing you still have room for learning, does not make you a lump of coal. That makes you both human and a developer — a rare site these days. You become a lump of coal the moment you let those fears and insecurities determine your outcome.

This is exactly what I did, or rather, what I became, when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges during my first coding boot-camp — a lump of coal. Things hadn't gone the way I'd intended. The pandemic arrived when I was only one week into the program, and suddenly, I found myself learning from home. The instructors were impatient when answering my questions. The dogs barked during zoom meetings, my child barged in the room every 4 minutes, the groceries had to be got and a thousand other challenges piled up before me — a mountain higher than any I'd ever seen. I gave up. I decided that I could not do it. I could not become a developer. And it is precisely at this moment, that James Baldwin, who would pass only one year after IBM released their first laptop, can teach us something about being a developer.

The truth is, God, Satan, and Mississippi notwithstanding, you can be a developer. Likely, you already are. You're solving problems. You're learning. You're growing. You're creating new things, and making new connections that, previously, you would have never thought possible. You probably wouldn't be reading this now if you weren't already a developer. Unless, of course, you're my beautiful, loving, supporting wife. Hi, love. But if you're not, then you are a developer. You are a programmer. You can and will do what it takes to get past this next obstacle. When you fall, or when your code breaks, you will get back up and put your code together again. Go full Humpty Dumpty, and do it because that's what we do. We're developers. We make sh*t work.

And so, to answer my question, you will not be finding python tutorials on YouTube presented by James Baldwin. However, if you pay close attention to his words, and close attention to your mind, you will learn a lot about the programmer. Here you are, left with only yourself to deal with. It is entirely up to you.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate.

JacobWashington — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 17:34:31 +0000

So, you’re thinking about enrolling full-time at a coding bootcamp? It’s 70-80 hours per week, but only for a few months. It’s not crazy, right?

Well… NO. It’s not crazy, and neither are you. My experience at a coding bootcamp in Irvine, CA, has been a rollercoaster, but a rewarding one at that. You learn a lot and you learn it fast. If you’re like me, you’ll come into this hardly understanding what a loop is and why you might need one. Exactly one month later, you’ll be building web applications from front to back, or rather back to front, and squeezing in whatever time you can spare to start playing with your own ideas. Bootcamp is tough, but more so it’s exciting and even transformational. You’ll know you’re in metamorphosis the first time you dream in JavaScript.

BUT, that time commitment is not for the faint of heart, especially when you have others who depend on you. If you’re married, if you have children, if you’re a central figure in your family, friend group, or community of any description, you need to set your boundaries early. Getting through a coding bootcamp is no easy feat. Getting your loved one’s through it with you is even harder. You can expect, at a minimum, to sacrifice roughly ALL OF THE TIME you’re accustomed to spending with them. Luckily for you, your mind will be busy learning to write functions, loop through arrays, click buttons and make them do something, finding ways to do things on Youtube that your instructors explicitly asked you not to do... Unfortunately for those who aren’t there with you, they’re sitting at home (especially if another pandemic rolls around), twiddling their thumbs and wondering what it is, exactly, you’re doing with all this time away from them. Sometimes, you’ll come home from a 12 hour day and they’ll ask you just that. You happily snatch your backpack, break out your laptop and begin explaining to them the best you can, what it is you’re learning and how, exactly, the internet works. After the first few sparkly tricks you’ve prepared for this exact moment, you feel their interest dwindling. It’s just too complicated and boring, and you’re too underqualified to explain it to someone who, let’s face it, is not all that interested to begin with. And soon after that, the texts start rolling in 3 hours into class. The phone rings once every couple hours, some days even more so. Your mind is moments from solving a problem that’s had you stumped for the last hour and… RINNNNGGGGGGG. Your concentration is broken.

Don’t let this happen. Trust me. Communicate. Explain to your husband, wife, loved ones or friends, that you cannot answer your phone (except for emergencies) and will not be available to respond to non-urgent needs until you’ve reached whatever goal you’ve set for yourself that day. Oh, by the way.. SET GOALS.

But this is easier said than done, right? How do you approach a conversation that’s intention is, really, to turn down conversations — to tell someone who you love and cherish that they no longer have free access to you for a prescribed period of time, essentially putting them on the back burner. Well, you just do. You sit down, preferably well before your training starts, and say, honey, love, baby, boo — whatever it is you call this person — I love you, and I care about you, and these next few months are going to be extremely challenging for us. I’m not going to be available to spend time with you as much as I’d like to, or as much as we’re accustomed to. If you absolutely need me, I am absolutely available. I’m not abandoning you for some abstract desire to become a software developer, and neither is this desire abstract. Explain to them why this is important enough to you to commit nearly all of your time (and I mean ALL of it) over the next few months to achieve this goal. Ask them how they picture the time ahead, what they still expect from you. Offer creative ways to help alleviate the stress they’ll incur by feeling abandoned by you. And they will, some days at least, feel abandoned. Do your best to minimize that. Don’t come home each day, groggy and exhausted, expecting to throw your feet up and be treated like the master of creation you believe you’re becoming. This is a sure fire way to make your loved ones feel like, really, you’re on vacation while they’re home toiling to keep it all together. Instead, come home and wash the dishes. Cook dinner. Pick up the toys the kids have scattered, and let your loved one breathe. Tell them to go sit down and let them tell you how shitty their day was while you wipe off counters and sweep the floor. Yes, you’re tired too. Yes, you’re exhausted, and while you might not be hammering at rocks all day, staring at a screen and typing on a keyboard can be equally draining in many ways. But you know clearly why you’re doing it, something that those you’ve left at home can’t, and sometimes won’t, always see. So help them. The more you do to understand what they’re feeling, and to ease the burden of sharing the highest level of priority, the more they’ll do to help you succeed in meeting your goals, daily and as a software developer.

If you’re considering joining a coding bootcamp, believe me, the road ahead of you isn’t easy. But, if you really want it, whatever your reasons be, use every bit of drive you have not only to succeed, but to bring your loved ones along with you.

QUESTIONS about my bootcamp experience? Teetering on the edge of unknown, wondering if you should take that next step? DM me or comment below!