Message to Myself 15 Weeks Ago
Dear Phil of 15 weeks ago,
Hey man, I know you’re scared/anxious about your future… You should be. You ultimately want to be happy and your success in your professional career is a big factor in that becoming true. But let me just start off saying that you couldn’t be making a better decision for yourself than choosing Flatiron School and software engineering career path! I just presented my final project 15 minutes ago and you would be so proud of the amount of personal growth and just straight JOY you’re going to have. It will definitely the hardest thing you’ll endure to this point mentally. But it’s crazy… you’ll never enjoy struggling at something SO much. I’m going to give you advice that I wish I knew that I know now that will best prepare you for even more success.
- GO TO SLEEP! You’re going to try and rationalize to your self that staying up and working on something you’ve been stuck on is a good idea. It is not… Your brain needs to recoup. I know you are ignorant and think you know everything but you don’t. And yes, that was rude but trust me… SLEEP!
- Don’t worry about not being on campus. It’d definitely be nice to be on Flatirons incredible campus, but the remote life is the new norm. During this class, you get to learn how to work with a cohort (an incredible cohort I must add) and how to communicate through slack, zoom, etc. It’s a very valuable skill to have.
- Learn how to TEST/DEBUG your code! It will save you so much time and minimize your stress.
-Like I mentioned, you’re going struggle… These languages are like foreign languages — it’s impossible to learn over-night . The amount of, ‘Am I making the right decision?’, you’re going to have will definitely discourage you. You’re going to feel like the stupidest human on planet earth but ten minutes later, you will feel like you can take over the world! An emotional rollercoaster I could say.
-Play Golf. You need to give your brain a break. Get your mind off of coding and relax.
-Connect with your cohort members as much as possible. They are going through the same exact thing you are. Your friends will love the passion that you have about coding but they will not be able to relate. It’s an incredible aspect of the class to have passionate people that you can talk to or even just to vent.
- Do not be scared to ask for help. The instructors are incredible and so knowledgeable. They are there for a reason!
Well I know you’re probably back on instagram laughing hysterically at memes… But please just take my advice.