For the past few years, I have been trekking my way through bio and medical classes to become a nurse. The further I got into the program, the more I realized that nursing was not for me. I enjoyed the classes, the labs and learning about the body. The courses were challenging and I loved using critical thinking to solve labs. To fulfill program requirements, I had to volunteer and work in healthcare. Some of my jobs consisted of caring for the elderly and leading activities for residents that were in memory care. I also worked in a behavioral health facility and explored the administrative side of nursing where I got to work closely with RNs. Needless to say, I gained plenty of experience in the healthcare field. I did enjoy several aspects of my jobs in healthcare, but I was not a fan of what I saw in an RN's daily job duties. The job required quite a bit of paper work and was more routine than I expected.
Not knowing what to do next, I turned to my friends for advice. Many of them are developers and engineers. So they suggested that I give coding a shot. Part of me had doubts about being a coder. I did not have much information on what developers did. I also wanted to find a career that I will enjoy. Despite my doubts, my friends insisted that I try free resources online to see if I would enjoy coding. They also shared their day to day duties as developers with me. This allowed me to get an outlook on what the job would look like as a developer.
Ironically, this was around the same time I heard about Flatiron School. I was seriously considering coding bootcamps at this point. However, I wanted more experience and exposure to coding before I made the commitment to go to a coding bootcamp. Conveniently enough, Flatiron had a Prep Bootcamp Course. This gave me the opportunity to actively code and test my ability to learn coding through their curriculum. What surprised me from this experience, was how much I enjoyed it. After getting through more than half of the prep course, I decided to apply to Flatiron School. The application process went well and everything seemed like it was falling into place.
Today, I am writing this blog post in Flatiron School. I survived the first mod. I have four more mods to go. There are many times where I feel frustrated and overwhelmed. However, I enjoy being able to build things and see them reflected on screen. This program requires a lot of time and commitment. However, I highly enjoy what I am learning and I look forward to coming here everyday and learning more.
Top comments (1)
Good luck at bootcamp Nicole. I hope you enjoy coding. I find it very creative at times (when it’s not frustrating) 😏
But satisfying when you get it to work.