At the start of 2022, I had begun my first semester for a B.S. in Computer Science, but the thought of having to wait two years to complete my education and then start looking for a job in the industry made me anxious. Then, I heard from my partner about someone who had completed the Flatiron school software engineering program and was successful with it while having no prior coding experience.
I decided to reach out to the school and got all the information I needed. As soon as my spring semester ended, I got thru their pre-work and was enrolled to attend in June. The first three weeks were not easy, it was a lot of material to get thru, but I did not want to fall behind on the work. I tried my best to stay focused on the work, but if I got distracted, I would take a break. I soon noticed I got diverted because I did not completely understand a topic. Taking breaks at those times helped me clear my mind and was a requirement later in the program.
During the program, I had to work on projects as a team, and we had to decide what we would develop and how and we always had to use the skills we had been learning. It was a great experience, as I got to see how others wrote their code and how they approached problems. Seeing the different ways we could tackle the same problem pushed us to find optimal ways to get the problem solved. It was also beneficial because we learned to explain our ideas better so others would understand our vision.
Overall my experience was excellent; the instructors were great and engaging, and they challenged and pushed you as much as possible. It amazes me how much you can learn in 15 weeks and put our learning into practice. It was a gratifying experience; you will get a lot out of it if you dedicate the time it needs.
If I could change one thing about the whole experience, it would have been not working while attending the program. It was something the admissions lead explicitly told me before enrolling. Even though I worked part-time as a nursing assistant on the weekends, it wasn't easy. Without the support of my partner and family, the whole experience would have been very different.
Overall I would recommend the program, I was very skeptical before attending, but it was well worth it.
Top comments (1)
Hi there,
Thank you for taking time to write about your experience. You have got what it takes to excel in this role. I could only imagine what it feels like managing a job and also learning Software Development.
Your situation is quite similar to mine. I a self-learning web development and I must say, it is not for the faint hearted.
Kudos once again.
You can read about my Experience in my first 30 days as an aspiring Software Development here dev.to/emeeks94/my-first-30-days-a...
You can connect with me on this platforms:
github.com/emeeks94