Episode 45 : Ten things I would advise for anyone going to Makers Academy.

You have probably clicked this post for either three reasons. The first is because you are about to start the Makers Academy journey. The second is that you are thinking of taking some spontaneous journey for your passion to get to know the tech world. The third is that you are wondering, what is Makers Academy. I’ll go backwards given there’s more to explain.

http://www.makersacademy.com/

Makers Academy is one of Europe’s best coding bootcamps located on Commercial Street in London. It’s in one of the hippest area (no surprise as anything new, bizarre or trending in London ends up in this area) that pivots one’s life to becoming a developer and part of the tech industry in London. It goes on for about three to four months, inclusive of the pre-course and at the end of if, you present a final project, you graduate and you actually become a somewhat fully qualified coder and ping-pong player.

It’s definitely a spontaneous journey one could take, that asks for you to invest quite a lot in but the rewards are redeeming and worthwhile. Great friends, great coaches, great learning and in a great environment. What more could you ask for in a period that you’ve taken to grow and to learn something new?

If you’ve decided to take on this spontaneous journey and have chosen Makers Academy, then I welcome you and congratulate you. It’s not an easy place to get into given they are quite selective due to high demand.

I would know. Part of my obstacle to get here was that I had to do at least four interviews. A write up, a Skype chat and two or if not, three coding interviews. Yes, I was a keen spirit.

You are about to experience a rollercoaster you could not even begin to imagine and your investment is going to be worthwhile so long as you have a passion for tech or a passion to grow.

It’s okay to be nervous, it’s okay to be somewhat scared, it’s great if you are excited and can’t wait to start and most of all, it’s okay to not really know what you signed up for. Because really, no one ever does and I believe most don’t come in with any expectation.

Though, I am here to tell you (or my day one self) things that could calm those feelings or nerves down just an inch because I was once, like you.

An optimistic energetic spirit who was half excited and nervous and not really knowing what I signed up for. No thought of what I had about Makers were right, and on the may days I’ve been here, I have been blessed with such gleaming surprises. So, here I bestow the ten things I would tell my one day self and you, the things I would pay attention to if I could experience it again.

Note: Not all of my review or tips will be here given I have saved that post for another day. However, these are just tips I would tell myself on the first day so I would not ruin any of the surprises for my past-self.

01. You are more capable than you think

If you have ever been to a Maker’s graduation, you realise that the ‘seniors’ create amazing products from their three months of experience. If you have, you’ve probably gone “how the hell did that do that” and now, if you are about to start “how the hell am I going to do that?”

It’s normal to feel these feelings but it’s hard to think that one day, in the next three months, that you could do the same. If I had to suggest anything to my day one self, the first thing I would suggest is to leave whatever thoughts I had about myself, whatever doubts I had about myself and whatever perceptions I had of people and of code outside the door.

Like everyone else who does this experience, you are just as capable and have just as much potential to get a job like everyone else.

Since I stand here at Week 12, realising that I’ve overcome a lot of obstacles, learnt a lot of techniques and picked up more languages that I ever thought I could do when I started, this tip applies to everyone, including you.

02. Take the time to find yourself

I never expected that an intense three month coding bootcamp would feel like one of those “find yourself” vacations. You know, those vacations where people go venture by themselves to Bali, Thailand or some tropical island away from everything and everyone. It’s why some of these islands have these giant villas you can rent for three months as a reasonable price to “connect with themselves.”

Although I would agree that a coding bootcamp is not a vacation, it’s an experience where you will be spending a lot of time with yourself. If I could think of a similar experience, it’s like our time of study (college, university, masters) where we were given absolute freedom and independence to make most of the experience.

Even though Makers cultivates this growth mind-set in its safe environment, this intent is not just for you to learn code. Makers is about teaching you how to learn and showing you how you can grow into a better person everyday. An environment like Makers, even compared to universities, is quite a unique one in the sense that it makes you feel “safe” to grow.

So, why not try something new such as meditation, yoga, ping-pong or an event created by a cohort member? Why not clear the clutter in your mind or your life by going for counselling sessions with the Joy Chief Officer? Why not get over a fear by speaking out or asking questions in workshops? Why not ask that intimidating person in your cohort for coffee?

In a short period where most of what I said is inclusive and where it’s safe, I encourage you that for every day you are going to Makers, wake up, look in the mirror, ask yourself “what can I do to grow into a better person than I was yesterday” and whatever your answer is, to give it a go.

03. Be open for change, and if not be prepared for resistance

Speaking in the perspective of someone who is rather stubborn, I can admit that I’ve had a fair share of experiencing “resistance” whilst I was undergoing some changes. Whether it was be adapting to controlling my stress levels is not being able to pick up information or practice to stop thinking in my old ways, it took time for me to realise that to get over the obstacle of change, one must allow the change to happen.

I came to this conclusion given that in week 4, I was going absolutely nuts , pulling my hair out after an intense week. I no longer could bear the weight, the stress and wanted to do whatever it took to get rid of it. It’s normal that change can be hard to accept but in a situation where you cannot afford to have anything bearing on your shoulders on top of the intensity of the course, you may find that allowing yourself to change is worth it.

However, what I would also mention is that the “resistance” that I experience from changes, can come from other things than coding. Yes, when I say be open for change, be open to any changes that could happen and impact any part of your life. Makers is an influential environment in the sense that it will keep engaging you to better yourself and to grow.

Thus, allow yourself to be aware and notice these changes, but if you ever decided to act against them, be prepared for the weight that is about to come on your shoulders.

04. Today is what matters

Week 2 was the first week where I managed to finish the material with a pair partner. We both were so full of joy as it sparked hope in our eyes that we could go through all the material if we worked hard for it (Although here I write, realising that was the only time I manage to finish the week’s material).

I remember celebrating and indulging in that moment, without thinking about the weekend challenge I had to do and without worrying of the things I needed to do or had to reflect on. It was from that day onward where I seriously took Maker’s infamous quote “are you a better developer than yesterday seriously.”

As the weeks went on and times took a dip, the one thing that helped me get over those dark dips was thinking about today’s problems and what I had achieved. In week 12, where you have to think about jobs, final projects, interviews and the beyond, it’s a great tool to only think about the present because it’ll make you more productive to get things done rather than overthinking about all the things you have to get done.

05. Friends are Important

Now, I’m not telling you to let “networking” be the core reason of why you came to Makers after this post. After all, like any relationship, it’s something that flourishes out of the blue through actions rather than words. However, I believe it’s something unnoticed that I would encourage you to check in, have a ping-pong game or say a simple “How are you?” to someone in your cohort everyday because…

Friends are good for having a chat about a coding problem you can’t solve, about deciding what’s the next best coding meme to post on Slack or having a laugh when your whole computer shuts down before running Rack-up

Friends open you up to new things such as getting you to try different forms of vegan food every Friday, getting you out to try new pubs so you can play disturbing yet weird games or how to do the merengue.

Friends can make you take care of yourself simply by going on a stroll outside for fresh air with you, by taking time to stare outside a window and have random conversations about emus after every 20 minutes to relax the eyes of coding or by having a fun ping-pong smash game to give your body a stretch.

Friends can be there to give you advice on a situation you don’t know how to handle, to tell you a story about themselves to show that what you are facing is something that you are not facing alone, to give a hug when you need it or to place a kind hand on you and say “that you are doing okay” whilst having a panic attack.

Friends could be super useful for when you need a hand to pick you up after an intense yoga session, when you need support to help move out into your next AIRBNB or when you need more endorsements or connections on your LinkedIn page.

and most of all,

Friends are one of the best gifts you could ever get out of the experience. They are bundles of joy who will get you to laugh in your darkest of times, they are fulfilling gifts, filled with stories and talents that you can get to know and they are people who you’ve connected with long enough to count them as some forever good friends.

In short, friends are important.

06. Allow yourself to have “feelings”

This post talks about two separate things of the same topic so I’ll try keep it brief. The first is that Makers is going to get stressful because you are going to have to adapt to a lot of changes. You are going to experience low dips and high spirits throughout the weeks, and like any crazy rollercoaster, it’s going to feel uncomfortable at first if its your first time riding it. So, go easy on yourself and allow yourself to feel what you are feeling for a moment. Trust me, it will relieve you quicker than keeping it in.

The other part to this is that Makers is quite the influential environment, in the sense that you will be spending your time with a group of people for a long period of time, everyday for three months. You’ll be doing all sorts of activities with them and eventually it comes to the point, where it will feel like you’ve known them for years even though you’ve known them for only two weeks. Plus, entering a cohort where majority are good-looking or either charming just adds fuel to the pool of emotions already bubbling up.

As quote, “it always happens in every cohort” so it’s normal if you find someone in your cohort attractive.

07. Do your Read-Mes

In the first few weeks, you will underestimate the impact and power of the README. The README may simply look like a text file with a bunch of gibberish explaining your project. Oh, how you are mistaken, my friend.

The README is like a birthday card to a present. It’s the instruction manual to the exciting Ikea package you are about the build. These are things we underestimate but they play a large role in giving the receiver a better understanding and experience when engaging with the product, if done well.

Hence, I urge that you spend time at the end of every week doing your README or at least an hour on cleaning up your Github. You rather spend half of your day learning code, or taking a break with friends than rewriting half of the READ-MES after week 4. A README needs time, care and focus to be well designed and has the list of requirements to communicate to the user of what your product is about and how you made it.

Below I’ve linked a markdown sheet along with what I think should go in your README. It’s not much to write a birthday card but it takes some time and effort to write. Get going!

https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet

README Checklist:

• How it works
• Approach (How you approached the problem)
• Reflection (What would you do to make it better)
• Progress of Problem solving (User-stories, tables)
• Images (Of Product)
• Images (Of Documentation/Progress)
• Team Members, if there were any.

08. When you are stuck, give it 30 minutes before you ask for help.

At Makers, you are required to train your endurance and capability on solving problems and bugs. Over the weeks, you may start to go up to a coach about a problem and realise that at times the response you get is to “go and research it” which can be somewhat effective or not progressive.

Through the twelve weeks, although you will be coding for at least 300 hours, it’s good to start training yourself to figure out problems on your on. Start with 15 minutes, then 20 minutes and I would say give it till 30 minutes. If you don’t progress a step further, then attempt to ask a friend, and then a coach. We don’t want you to be stuck in a rut, with your knickers in a twist forever after all.

In this way, you will be training your “Google search” skills and your “Approach to problem” skills as a developer. It’s vital to do so because that’s half the job of what a developer does: to search, learn and solve.

09. Mids and Seniors, we are all the same.

Although I would say this is targeted at Mids and Juniors, I would give notice to everyone including seniors. When you first enter Makers, you may think that the mids and seniors know everything given that they have been through a few more weeks of the course. Haha, I beg to differ.

I remember my mentee and a junior came up to ask me “How to make a double for Ruby” and I complete froze. Given I had specified in Javascript for the past five weeks as a front-end Developer I am to be, my Ruby skills had flew out the window. My really smart peer, Robert who was more familiar with Ruby had to help me out.

So, this is a big note guys: Just because they are mids or seniors, it doesn’t mean they know everything and it means that throughout the weeks, you don’t have to pick up everything either! A lot of the times, many of us pick up only what we can or that is based on our interest.

Coding is an endless archeology dig that you cannot finish in three months, and that’s something for everyone no matter how many weeks they’ve gone through.

10.Everything somehow, workouts

On the last day of week 11, I started panicking that we were never going to make the feature Freeze. The feature Freeze is when we stop implementing any new features, and take the time to clean up the code, style and refine it.

Yet, here we are, having made half of the features I thought we weren’t going to me able to make, in one day. Now that I think about it, at the toughest times during group projects (from Week 8 onwards), I never thought it was the end of the world given that on Friday, the projects (with hard work) works itself out. In moments that you even think is crucial and where you think everything is a hot mess, with sheer work and determination to push through, the situation seems to turn out for the best.

Plus, in a coding bootcamp where it’s going to be full on intense time for three months, you will gradually learn that it’s not worth to stress given that you can only do your best and that now you know,

…everything works out in the end.

You might not get this now, but wait till you have a crisis of being overwhelmed by so much and maybe, you’ll get it then.

Fun Fact of the Day:

Today’s word for the team is “super” given we had used it for all our coding examples and kept saying it over again to motivate us through Monday. Hence, I’m going to say, as we’re in our final week that we are going to have a “super” day and I hope with these tips, you will have a “super” experience at Makers or now a “super” decision to go on this “super” adventure.