DEV Community: Valeria Vassallo

I’m now a coding bootcamp graduate

Valeria Vassallo — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 04:20:22 +0000

I graduated from Codeable. I now have the title of Full-Stack Software Developer. I still can’t believe it. Me, an 18-year-old girl with many passions, a mind full of dreams, and a heart full of hope, a software developer? After six months of nonstop learning, practicing and doing my best, I am now in a place I’d have never considered myself to be in seven months ago.

To give you all context: I graduated high school last year, my plans were kinda different, I was a totally different person. However, now I’m someone who just had one of the best experiences ever, a new Valeria, someone more confident about her capacity, someone who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind without doubting everything that would come out of her mouth, someone who has new friends that are going to stick around no matter what, someone... different... for the better.

I couldn’t have asked for anything else. Codeable, definitely one of the best coding bootcamps in the whole wide world, gave me so many opportunities and I’ll be forever thankful. I want to thank my instructors, the whole staff, and my teammates, or better said, my awesome friends. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the constant support I had throughout the whole bootcamp. These amazing human beings have been there for me whenever I needed it, just like I tried to be there for them as well. They all taught me so much and made me feel so comfortable,,,,, I couldn’t be any more grateful. I just want them to know that they can always count on me, always. I’m literally one text away.

And to finish this (I’m kinda getting emotional), to all the people out there who want to change their lives, go for it. You’re not really living if you don’t take any risks. Choose what you truly think is best for you. You will know what that is, you’ll feel it. Don’t second guess any decision. You won’t regret it. In my case, after risking some things, I gained new, interesting knowledge, incredible friends and an experience I won’t be able to forget. Just go for it, it’s worth it :D

Oh! And having finished this bootcamp doesn’t mean I’ll stop here, this is just the beginning. I’m excited to see what the future holds for me, for all of us.

My first time talking at a meetup!

Valeria Vassallo — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 04:14:56 +0000

As the title says, I gave my first ever lightning talk at a meetup (Ruby Peru), and I'm still thrilled about it! It was a little over a month ago, but y'know... procrastination is a thing. Anyways! Here is the post I've been wanting to share with you all.

I talked about Model-level validations on Rails as it's a topic I find really useful and perhaps needed when creating a web-app. The thing that stuck with me the most is the fact that we can't trust the users, so I told myself: "Why not share that and the way we can stop evil users from crashing our web-app with everyone? It's really interesting if you ask me." So... that's what happened :)

A huge thanks to my instructors who were the ones that made this possible :) Even though, I was a bit unsure at first, everything went well :D It was definitely an honor!

Here are my slides in case you want to know more about model-level validations on Rails :D

My experience so far

Valeria Vassallo — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 21:17:06 +0000

It’s been three weeks since I decided to officially start this journey in which I’m learning non-stop about software development, and, of course, I have so many things to say.

The first one is that it’s definitely not an easy thing to do.Technology has to be your passion, otherwise you’ll struggle… a lot. In my case, learning something new every day was… hard? Sometimes I felt it was too much and my impostor syndrome kicked in again and again. Nevertheless, I slowly but surely, started to learn how to overcome it. Now I feel tired, yes, but I’m satisfied with the strides made so far, and I actually do feel good, I do like what I’m doing and I can assure y’all, I’ll never regret signing up for this. This is the right path for me. I think that this is one of the best opportunities I’ve had in my whole life. Anyways! Before I get emotional or something, let’s keep going.

Like I said before, I’m learning something new every single day and it’s so exciting! In these three weeks I’ve already learned the theory of the basics/fundamentals of Ruby, now it’s time for me to practice, practice and practice. Because, as people say, practice makes perfect. That’s what I want. I also want to prove everyone that being the youngest amongst the group doesn’t mean that I can’t do what they can. I’m sure everyone knows that, though. The group of people I'm part of as well as with the bootcamp itself are just beyond amazing! I can learn at least one thing from everyone, technical or non-technical stuff; they all have something to teach.

They’re not the only ones who have something to teach, though! There’s also something I can teach! I’ve become the unofficial English teacher of the group. I love getting this feeling of joy and pride whenever someone tells me they’ve learnt something new or managed to do something thanks to me. I hope that’s how everyone feels whenever I thank them for their help when I manage to use something like ERB (for example) or something simpler like Classes and Methods.

This is one hell of a ride, in the best way possible, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me… for us. So, to finally end this, I want to say one last thing: if you’re a beginner, just like me, don’t give up, ever. Be patient. You’re great! You can do it! F*** the impostor syndrome, it’s nothing compared to what you can do! You’re gonna go far, kid (yes, this is a reference to The Offspring, love that band). Now, off we go!