When I started bootcamp, I honestly believed the workload would
completely overwhelm me. I feared I wouldn’t pass. I held myself
back with fear; fear of opening my laptop, fear of not
understanding, fear of failure. Looking back now, the experience
wasn’t as scary as I imagined. There were definitely weeks where I
fell behind or procrastinated. I struggled a lot with self belief
and motivation. When I felt mentally blocked, I turned to arts and
crafts or journaling. I even mentioned in my original well-being blog/plan that I
might try journaling; but didn’t believe it would help. Funny
enough, I found myself journaling every now and then and not just
when I was sad. I wrote about moments when I felt proud or
grateful or calm. I had never done that before. This year;
balancing personal struggles and bootcamp has helped me become
more self aware. I’m learning patience and kindness towards
myself. I rediscovered creativity through art, something I once
considered useless or not worth doing. Now it actually supports my
mental health. I even created a list of new hobbies to try. One of
them was batting cages and I loved it so much that my partner and
I now go regularly to practice.
Here’s what I learnt about myself:
• I need to be patient with myself
• I do better once
I simply start
• Creative breaks helps me reset
• I
can catch up even when things feel impossible
• I’m more
capable, strong and resilient than I believed.
I also learnt a lot technically:
• Working effectively in a tech team environment
•
Using Git, React and databases collaboratively
•
Communicating and problem solving in a group
• Managing time
and tasks independently.
Bootcamp has been a great
experience so far. I am proud that despite delays, fear and self
doubt, I caught up on all my assessments. I’m still learning
coding all while learning how to be more resilient, have courage
and nurture myself. And honestly, that growth might be the most
important thing I take away from this journey. It still surprises
me how much calmer and more patient I’ve become. In the past I
would get overwhelmed quickly. Now I allow myself to pause and go
at my own pace. The first time I told myself “I’ll be fine. I’m
doing great. I’ll be ok” I felt shocked. It was unreal hearing
that kind of kindness from myself instead of relying on others to
say it. I didn’t know I could grow into someone who reassures
themselves; but I have. And I am proud of myself.