Two and a half years ago, I was driven to attend a coding bootcamp. Driven, but not ambitious. Driven, by the marketing of these magic training facilities that churns out 6-figure making developers. Invest 3 months to make at least 60k? Sounds like a deal, I'm in. The truth was, I was 80% in it for the money, as much as I wanted to think otherwise. It makes sense, after all, bootcamps' marketing is all about salary, salary, salary...
Make the money don't let the money make you
The allure of making tons of money sitting at a desk has completely escaped me by now. I am currently working as a tutor and plan to take pre-requisites for a teaching credential program at CSU Fullerton. I have found something more meaningful in life than looking at one's and zero's on a screen, all day, every day.
So why am I here? I always kept it as a duty to come back to this blog and finish it. It may be flawed, it may be incomplete, but I can at least put in the effort to put a final message out there to people about to drop a ton of money for something that might not be worth it. So here it is:
1. The rabbit hole goes deep- They aren't lying when they say one can never stop learning as a developer. I have found that passion did a whole lot of nothing to help me through the learning. It's the dedicated and hard-working that truly succeed as the developer. Me, I'm lazy, and life is short. No thank you.
2. There is so much more to tech than problem-solving- Surviving in the tech world is hard not only because its coding concepts are hard, but because it requires the mental fortitude of a rock to go through 3-hour interviews, endure office politics, and keep up with all the connections that may or may not help you get a job later.
3. Be careful who you trust- Most people in this field want to make money. That has its implications. There are so many people coming in the field for the greens that it's hard to see the true and the false. Be careful who you share personal stories with.
4. Bootcamps are businesses- In the end, they are there to make money.
All this being said I learned so much and met so many amazing people at bootcamp. Hopefully my input has helped some of you decide if bootcamp is right for you.
var finalMessage = "So long, cruel world!"
console.log(finalMessage);