My learning Journey

What are three new things you have learned about yourself and your ego as a result of the core learning?

The first thing I learned was that I cannot help but compare my learning progress with other's despite understanding that everyone comes into this with different backgrounds, level of technical experience and strengths. I know that some have much stronger technical skills while others are more comfortable with core, but after seeing the quality of work being produced makes it hard to be completely satisfied.

The second is that my perfectionistic tendencies really gets in the way of progress. It makes it hard for me to jump in and try something new off the top of my head. I would much rather do a lot of research into the topics first before trying a concept that I suspect might also work in a similar way. A lot of the time the research does provide a good brief basis but the knowledge that I have gained from practice thus far and seeking help when needed has been far more useful.

The third is relevant to both the above points, mostly that perfectionism makes it hard sometimes to be completely satisfied with my work when It doesn't ever feel complete. I look at other's work and I think about how much time they put in and how much they have achieved, comparing my work to them all the time. I constantly feel like there is always so much left to do but need to put it on hold as it would hinder my progress through the course work.

What are the role of values, empathy and self awareness in learning and programming?

I feel that personal values encompasses all parts of my learning. It more or less dictates how i will intreact with the people I will be leaning with, how I approach learning and how I deal I see my progress.

Empathy allows me to see my progress and other's as part of one and the same process. Understanding where, how and why others progress at the rate that they do while at the same time being kind to myself and my learning.

Self-awareness is possibly the most important part of learning progamming, as I see it as being of paramount importance when it comes to reflecting on your work at the end of each learning week. Being highly aware means that I can constantly strive to improve on the things that I see as deficient at that stage and learn from my mistakes.

What has surprised you the most about the core learning?

I'm surprised that Enspiral has put so much thought into actually teaching this aspect of human values and behaviour in the course. The contents are both interesting, relevant and frankly quite fun to navigate through. I understand that these core concepts are useful in all job types, tech or no, but to invest so much time in also teaching this has outlined what I can expect from myself at the end of my learning journey here. Which is ultimately to get employment and what employers expect to see in a potential candidate aside from their technical skills.

What were the most challenging aspects of the core learning?

The most challenging aspect for me was forming a learning plan and sticking to it. I find it quite difficult to commit to a certain type of routine especially at this stage where so much time is being spent at home and having no clear divide in down time and study time. Usually when I had the option of studying on campus during my university days, it was easier to separate my time more efficiently. Goals were more laid out and definied, while now the lines are somewhat blurred. There is a lot more flexibility in my routine because I needed to allow my time to be divided across many things while we are all completly overcome by uncertainty that is affecting my daily life amidst COVID-19.

Why do you think we, a programming school, are spending so much time focusing on core learning in a web development bootcamp course?

I think that Enspiral is taking the time to focus on human skills (or soft skills) because for most of us when we are done here will need to move into a professional programming environment. Where projects are worked on in teams and divisions in order to optimize the output of one product. This requires collaboration and understand of everyone's situtation and working environment. Being taught to be aware of the core skills early on will make it easy for transition from training to work and make us more desirable as a potential candidate.

Does the time you spent studying core learning here feel like a waste of time? Should you have just used that time to practicing programming instead? Justify your answer.

Not at all! The concepts are interesting and relavent. I have learned a lot more about myself than I had anticipated and the process has helped me find the most effective way for me to engage the material. Not only that but it has also allowed me to be a little bit more kind to myself when it came to assessing my own progress and ability to learn.

Reflecting while preparing for Bootcamp

The past 5 weeks has been both challenging and fun. It makes me think about why I am doing this in the first place. It all came down to me wanting to change my lifestyle and find a new challenge. COVID-19 has put any hopes of me moving to another country and writing a wine list for a Michelin Star restaurant on hold for a while, if not permanently. While I know that my love, experience and passion for wine will never disappear, my job will. This pandemic has really lowered the ceiling for me and my career, I can now see a roof where I used to see sky and it has really driven home that I needed to make a change.

What I really want out of this course was to find something else that I could love as much as wine. I want the chance to be in a job where the possibilities are next to limitless when it comes to learning and to be given the ability to change more than just me. I'm not like my sister who wants to make life online easier for people with disability or like some of the friends that I have in the industry who wants to make the most beautiful indie game in New Zealand. I don't have a grand scheme or bigger picture in mind for where I want to take these skills but I think that's what I'm here to find out. I wanted to be challenged so here I am, changing my whole life to satisfy my curiosity and great need for change.

Heading into this Bootcamp after foundation has highlighted what my strengths and limitations are. As mentioned in my About Me blog entry from sprint 2, I feel that my strengths and limitations have remained more or less the same. My tenacity and stubbourness are still my key strengths, especially when it comes to learning. If I hadn't been so determined to try and prove myself wrong by pushing through the material and telling myself that I am not allowed to give up then I think I would have lapsed into a depressive state by now.

My limitation is definitely still my perfectionistic tendencies. It has been holding me back at almost every step of the way, telling me that the work needs to be absolutely amazing or else I can't move on to the next stage. Luckily, with effort, the nagging voice has calmed down a little. I suspect that this will definitely still hinder me during Bootcamp.

The biggest challenge that I think I will likely encounter during Bootcamp, aside from managing my limitations, would be keeping on top of the material. I anticipate a lot of information and practice that are needed and not enough hours in the day to do it so my main focus from here on out will be to fully prepare myself as much as possible before every Bootcamp week. Making sure that I have done a reasonable amount of study and familiarisation before the course delivery inorder to keep my bad habbits under wraps.

I would be lying by saying that there is no part of me that I wish to change. I think compared to other, my human skills far surpass my technical skills thanks to my professional background but what I have never been good at was receiving feedback in a way that doesn't have a negative effect on me mentally. I am prone to being unreasonably harsh on myslef, in saying that, I am a fairly confident person but I find it hard to be kind to myself in the face of critism. I hope that I can become more comfortable with this by the end of this course.

In my understanding, Bootcamp is like foundations times three. I intend to approch Bootcamp with more preparations and dedication, while maintaining the useful habits that I have acheive over the past 5 weeks. I am acustomed to working long hours under an immense amount of pressure so I am confident that I will remain composed throughout. Communication is key when it comes to working with others so I intend to be as communicative and informative as possible when dealing with others. Making sure that everyone is aware of what is happening is the best way to manage any and all expectations, while maintaining a good relationship with the poeple around me. Thse two points will be my key startegies throughout Bootcamp.