Take Care of Yourself

Coding boot camps started to appear in the San Francisco Bay Area around 2012. I did not hear about them until summer 2019 so maybe the reason why I did not hear about it until recently is that they were new, and maybe businesses at the time did not trust them yet.

I started the Flatiron School boot camp on April 20, 2020. As of writing, I am currently in Week 5. Now that I have some experience in, I can give some advice to those who are thinking about attending one or starting soon.

Figure 1: Coding.

1. An important rule is that we are learning a lot of material in a matter of four months. So it can be frustrating sometimes when I feel like I don’t know what is going on half of the time. My advice is that don’t worry too much about it. Go at your own pace and try not to fall too far behind. You will not be the only one who feel that way.
2. Get help. A lot of the times while doing the assignments, we get stuck on a bug and can’t seem to find the issue. Go ask a fellow classmate if anyone is working on that problem, and/or look up the bug on the Internet. If that is still not fixing the issue, ask your coach or instructor. They are helpful in finding a solution. Don’t spend more than, say, 30 minutes on a bug because if you cannot fix it by that time, good chance you might not be able to fix it an hour later. A few times I spend a few hours trying to figure it out that I decided to move on. Spending too much time on one problem could result in falling behind.
3. Take breaks. That is very important for me because staring at a screen for a long time is not good for my eyes. I can’t stand reading too long on a screen. That is why when I read books, I prefer the physical copy over electronic copy. Go get food, do a quick workout, go walk or run. That usually helps me. Also, after a certain time of the day at , say, 9 pm, have the rest of the day for yourself. Watch a movie or catch up on a TV show or work out.
4. Sleep. I say this is the most important one. I have heard some went to bed as late as 3 am because they were too focused on their work. If you cannot solve the problem and the time is say 10 pm, save it for tomorrow. Get some sleep because health is more important than coding. Professional athletes need sleep to recover after physically demanding training. I think these guys get about 10 hours of sleep a night. Maybe more. We are not doing any work that is as physically demanding as they are, but we still need sleep. I don’t sleep until 12:30 am, and I am trying to fix that because I wake up around 6:30. Sometimes I feel tired during lectures. I will admit I have slept during lecture. Maybe it would be a good idea to learn to sleep anywhere, like the guy in the photo in figure 2.

Figure 2: Sleeping. Source: https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/11/02/explainer-why-are-we-so-sleep-deprived-and-why-does-it-matter/

Overall, this would be my advice to prospective students. Remember, food and sleep are important so never forget those needs. They are more important that code. In the military, they like to say, “Take care of your equipment, and it will take care of you.” Your body is the most important piece of equipment you will have. Take care of it well.