27/09/2021
𝐍𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐚 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐨 has been a barmaid, a waitress, and a menu translator for more than three years before choosing a new path — web development. She graduated from Codaisseur in 2020 and now calls herself "a coding enthusiast." Nausicaa shared the story of changing her career and life with us.
𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 because I was a complete beginner (at 31) without any formal education in IT. This type of learning seemed ideal because it would grant me a position as a developer.
𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 with some help of a friend of mine, a senior developer, who worked with Codaisseur graduates. He gave me the name of the academy as I was interested in becoming a web developer.
𝐌𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 but also high-rewarding. My only regret? Not changing my career sooner.
My class was Codaisseur’s first remote-only one due to the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, it may not be entirely comparable to the “normal” experience.
Among 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬, isolation is one, for sure, and sometimes the feeling of being somewhat detached. If you take the courses in-person instead of remote, then your teacher (or classmates) might even sense you aren’t too sure about something, but a bit too shy to raise your hand. But with remote learning, if you don’t ask for help, no one can see or even guess you might need it. Also, being so isolated sometimes gives you the wrong perception of being “the last one” to understand a new concept or finish the day’s exercises — if you were struggling, that is. Besides, in a bootcamp, it’s normal to be presented with tons of new knowledge in a brief timeframe.
But 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬 are about extremly attentive teaching staff at Codaisseur who are very passionate about their job and are always ready to help students to the best of their ability. I also liked the study material written by teachers (what I mean is that it was clearly very tailored to our course and needs, it was very "targeted" and to the point, with lots of exercises).
I now work in the Netherlands as 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫. It was intimidating for sure, being "the new junior" at work, but I can tell you that the bootcamp hit the nail on the head with its contents, as I felt well-prepared, not just in terms of "what to know" already, but more importantly on how to keep learning, how to deal with new documentation and be an independent learner.
I couldn't be happier for future Codaisseur's future students because I know that courses aren't remote-only anymore.
The imposter syndrome can be terrible, especially as an adult beginner in an entirely new field. So asking every little question you may think of or voicing every doubt is fundamental in overcoming the syndrome. When I started the course I was a bit shy and had a hard time because of it, but now that I'm working as a developer, I discovered the joy of coding in the same room as my colleagues (albeit twice a week only, but working remotely definitely got easier because of it) and solving things together.
Something as trivial as pointing to the screen, to a specific word, aren't "easy" things to do in a call, even with screen sharing. It demystifies remote debugging a lot, and therefore it makes for quicker progress and helps you develop more self-esteem and confidence in coding.
