5 Keys to Succeeding In Any Coding Bootcamp

Having just completed an intensive coding program, I've found that I've accumulated quite a lot of advice that I wish I could retroactively give to my younger self when she was just starting out. Since the Elon Musks of the world refuse to seriously invest in time travel any time soon, I'm gonna give all that advice to you, the reader, instead.

So listen close and follow along with the points below. You may have some idea of what you're about to get into, but chances are you probably don't.

1. Utilize your instructor's help (really though)
This one helped me so much, and is probably the most important tip you should take away from this blog post. So often we are afraid of asking stupid questions for fear of being seen as inferior, but we need to learn to move passed this instinct if we are to succeed in a high stakes environment. I posit that stupid questions are the most important questions, because they will always clear the air and foster greater group understanding after having been answered.

Notice I used the word group there, because most of the time when you have a stupid question, someone else is probably also wondering something similar (if not the same exact question). One of you needs to be brave enough to ask, and it might as well be you!

Even if no one else is wondering it, though, and someone does think lesser of you for asking what might be obvious to them, I think it's still worth it to ask. You're paying good money to be here and taking a huge risk by setting a ton of time aside to learn this skill, get your money's worth and ask that question! Temporary embarrassment is worth a skill you'll have for a lifetime.

2. Find resources outside of your course
Whether its technical documentation, youtube videos, or an entire online course, outside resources are going to help you go the extra mile. I know this sounds daunting, because your workload is already going to be insane, but I'd encourage you to basically say goodbye to most other parts of your life and dive head first into working after hours. Obviously you are going to want to stay ahead of your assigned workload(see tip 4), but when you can find the time you need to be practicing even more.

The idea is that you need to be getting as many hours in coding as humanly possible, as this will make you more competent throughout the program as well as make you a more attractive candidate during your eventual job hunt.

If you're looking for recommendations, there was a free React Scrimba course that my entire cohort swore by. Scrimba is an excellent tool, and probably has a course on something you're studying.

3. Get to know your cohorts
This one may seem obvious, but it's still worth mentioning. You're going to run into a problem relatively soon where you feel burnt out, uninspired and like you aren't getting anywhere with your work. When you go to explain this to anyone outside of your cohort, you'll get some support, sure, but more often then not people won't know how to relate to you or what you're going through.

But you know who does? Literally the rest of the cohort. We are social creatures, and knowing that someone else is struggling in the same way you are can help contextualize your mental state and make you feel less alone. We all struggle with imposter syndrome at one time or another, and the best cure for it is simply talking about it with those who understand. As you progress throughout the program, these strangers will eventually become friends. There's a strange phenomenon that happens when a group of people are all put under the same stress at the same time, a sort of bond that will last well beyond the program itself.

Even beyond that bond, these peers of yours are the first stepping stone for your professional network. Not only is it merely beneficial to befriend them, it can often be crucial.

4. Strive to stay ahead on your workload
This may seem like another obvious one, so I'll keep it relatively short. You're going to have a lot of work to do, there's no getting around it, so I encourage you to instead get ahead of it. Nothing ensures success like having everything turned in 10 minutes early, and no early bird every complained about not getting a worm.

There's not much else to say on that front, just make sure you hold yourself accountable to this goal.

5. Take Care of Yourself, mentally and physically
This one is everything. Just because you're going to be sitting down at a computer for most of your time in the program doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to a sedentary lifestyle. Take walks when you can, drink tons of water, go to sleep on time. There is scientific evidence that a better body leads to better learning.

You will need to take care of yourself mentally, as well. As previously discussed, reach out to your peers, but don't rely on them for your sanity. They have enough on their plate already and probably can't handle whatever you're throwing at them at every single moment. Go outside. Get away from the screen for a bit. Call up a friend for 10 mins and talk about anything other than coding.

Sometimes taking a break and recognizing your fallibility as a human is exactly what you need, and you'll end up coming back to your problem with a fresh set of eyes, ready to solve whatever road block that was just driving you up a wall.

Burnout is real, and will be your worst enemy. Get on top of it before it happens by being aware of it as a threat.

And that's the list. I hope it helped someone out there, and if you're currently struggling through a similar program then I'd like to remind you that you got this, and what you're doing isn't impossible. It's just really, really difficult.

And that makes it worth doing!