It happened. My bootcamp started and week-one is done.
Now, you have to understand that I’m a person that loves to prepare for things. I love to plan trips. Thinking about what gear to bring and where and when we will need supplies is fun for me. Some of this prep-work is done out of fear, “what-if-this-happens”, but most of it is done to connect to an adventure before it actually begins.
Over the years, I’ve learned, that no matter how hard I try, I can’t plan for everything.
I naturally think of negative surprises: sometimes you just have to wait two hours for a hitch or your tent decides not to zip shut anymore. But I also have experienced amazing things I did not plan: someone offers you a free meal and a place to stay or a moose walks by you on the trail.
I was prepared for this bootcamp to be challenging; the same way I was ready for a trail to be challenging. And I have already had surprising setbacks: the BIG ONE being my computer screen turning black due to overheating!
BUT, my biggest surprise from week-one has been a positive one. I was not ready for how much fun I had this week.
I always spend time researching and learning about a particular topic: mushrooms, plants, tea, trails. I pour over books, surf the web, and do whatever it takes to find answers to my questions. I can have hours disappear while in my head or in a book. Normally, however, this happens alone.
It has been exciting to be in a setting where my ability to think, stay focused, and obsess over a topic is a benefit, if not required. I have loved having teachers immediately available to answer my questions and allow me to talk through concepts and specific code examples.
I have learned new things this week (promises and async functions to be specific), but much of the content has been a review from prep-work I have done. While I might have know what something did: Math.floor() for example rounds a decimal point down to the lowest whole number. I can now grasp the idea of what a method, like Math.floor(), actually is as a function within the Math class.
Terms like variables, expressions, and statements are cementing into my mind and becoming second nature in my questions and way of thinking.
It’s exciting to be pushed mentally everyday and see significant progress. Don’t get me wrong, it has been hard. I somehow find a way to sweat while sitting in a chair everyday, but the work is getting me where I want to go.
Week-One is done, moments are now memories. Metaphorically, there is less than the whole trail left to go!