Punchcode Programming Bootcamp, Day 60

The past 12 weeks has been an epic journey. And any epic deserves a final credits scene to give thanks to the people and events that helped in the production of this epic.

First I would like to thank my car for surviving the Las Vegas summer. My car has been a trooper for many years of driving in hot Vegas summers and relatively cold Vegas winters, in crappy traffic on the 215 or even taking the 15 all the way out to California for the weekend. Its 15 years old and has always been a dependable car, until last summer when it started having radiator problems and running hot. Since then it has started showing its age and a recent trip to the dealership revealed some pretty serious issues that would be more than the value of the car to fix. So the car and I are enjoying her final moments until its time to get a new car (or she gets relegated to permanent backup-car status). I was absolutely convinced that my car would die in the middle of summer traffic but she held on and performed gracefully. So my car definitely deserves a "thank you" for getting me to and from class everyday.

I have to thank my girlfriend for her patience during the past 12 weeks. Being in a bootcamp is really hard on one's relationships. Not just with a significant other but with family and friends. There are times when you have to disappear from society and focus on your studies because they are that demanding. And it is hard for people to understand that because they tend to equate it to their time in college or even high school. And even when those studies were at their most rigorous it doesn't compare to what one goes through at bootcamp. Fortunately my girlfriend did attend a year-long technical school and had an idea of what to expect. There were many events and trips that we had to miss this summer and even though I know she was unhappy about it she didn't complain and I really appreciate her for being so understanding.

I have to thank my mom as well. She came out to Las Vegas to visit and stayed with me through the summer. She watched me come home tired, frustrated, stressed and every other emotion in between. She made sure I didn't eat junk and prepared some great dinners for me and even lunches that I took to class. If it wasn't for her I am pretty sure my summer would have been full of sandwiches and Monster Energy drinks. I've thanked her many times in person but the world deserves to know it too. My mom rocks.

I've already thanked my instructors and classmates on here so I won't do it again. But I will thank the Vegas tech community in general for being very accommodating to me as a newcomer. I got to see many people at the Thursday demo day and any of them could have torn my project to bits with technical questions beyond my scope, or picky criticisms that could have discouraged me from ever getting back behind the keyboard. But they did not, and everyone had nothing but nice things to say. And it felt great. When I worked in hospitality, that feeling of community is pretty rare and people are quick to go behind your back or undermine you so they can get ahead themselves. I'm sure there are some bad apples in the Vegas tech scene too, but for now I am happy to report that I've met some great people who really just want to make cool things and see other people make cool things too.

So this week should be an interesting one. I will be going to class but I don't think I'll be coding anything at all. The main focus of the next week is to help me start my career as a developer. We spent the first 10 weeks not really talking about career development so I wasn't sure it was going to be a big part of the bootcamp. It seems that was just so we would stay focused on our projects and not try to put the cart before the horse and go job searching. In the past week we've been told that we can come in for mock interviews, resume reviews and other very helpful career assistance anytime we need it. I've already gotten some great feedback on my resume and retooled it a bit to fit my new career.

I've been considering what to do with this blog once the coming week is over. I'm not even sure how many days of next week are actual class days. I'd like to continue blogging and start writing about my adventures in job searching and maybe how it relates to my bootcamp experience. I think it would be important for potential bootcamp students to see how things will be after they graduate and not just during the cohort.

Unless my first coding job leaves me even more busy than my bootcamp did!