Post-Hackbright Spring 2013

I've spent the last 2-3 years hemming and hawing about wanting to learn how to be a software engineer.  I'd say confidence was the biggest thing holding me back.  My original background was in graphic design and several years in front-end development  (design/html/css/js).  The excuses were "it's too hard, I couldn't possibly...", "I can't afford to take the time to...",  and just plain old lack of true motivation.  I was very, very fortunate that circumstances and opportunity collided to finally allow myself to make the leap.

Don't think that a 10-week program is going to make you an instant success.  It is a lot of hard work during and post-Hackbright Academy.  My first white boarding interview was at Facebook(!!!) and was a very humbling experience.  I was very thankful that my interviewers were very respectful and seemed genuinely rooting for me.  It was no surprise that I had still had a lot to learn.  I studied algorithms, practiced interviewing, even bought a mini-whiteboard and thin markers (for better screen resolution), kept coding and forced myself to apply to jobs and go on interviews.  I wanted to put a hold on interviewing and wait until I was "ready" but   I realized that unless I was willing to put myself in these uncomfortable situations I'd continue to hold myself back.

It was really embarrassing for me to not have a clue how to answer questions, to look at a blank white board and feel "dumb."  I began to realize though that interviewers pose these challenges to see how you react.  They are testing you and if you don't know the answer they WANT you to ask questions to see how you think and how it would be like to work with you.  They're evaluating you to see if you're someone they want to work with and to gauge your ability (junior, mid-level, senior).

It also wasn't a solo effort. In addition to the support from other students, instuctors, and family & friends, my mentors Julia and Carina gave me that extra push. About two months later I discovered what it meant to find a good fit and was offered a full-stack role at Trulia which I'm really excited about. I start in 2 weeks and it's dog-friendly :-).

Hackbright Week 2: The week my brain wouldn't shut off

I learned so much this week that when I was trying to fall asleep my mind would be swimming with thoughts about Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Markov chains, lists and dictionaries.

The teachers at Hackbright do an excellent job presenting the material in engaging and digestible chunks and often with a humorous slant.  Take for example, our lesson on Markov chains.  Christian lead us in an example of breaking down the patterns of dubstep (to paraphrase, "wawawaaaa tsssss woooomp") in order to generate the next possible segment of music.

The exercise in OOP had us making a game based on a python game engine.  My pair-partner, Lani, and I had fun moving our character around and devising the game play.

We also had a field trip to Google for DevFest.  Dee, a fellow student gave an informative talk about Chrome Developer Tools and Liz, one of our teachers spoke about Gay Marriage From a Database Perspective.

Needing a digital break my husband and I took a day trip to Tahoe.  Ahhhh.....

But the week wasn't over yet!  I scored the opportunity to attend Pycon for the day.  I met many recruiters at the job fair, leaving confident that there are plenty of jobs out there.  One of the more interesting sessions was Tavis Rudd's demonstration where he coded by voice.  After temporarily losing feeling in his hands, he was forced to find alternatives to the key board.  This lead to "duct-tape coding in Python and Emacs Lisp" to make the Dragon voice recognition software recognize his commands (often consisting of animal sounds and abbreviated words) to generate code and terminal commands.  Even though the feeling in his hands returned Travis says he still codes by voice 40-60% of the time.

One Week Down, Nine More to Go

With my first week at Hackbright Academy complete I feel assured that this is what I needed to make the transition to become a software engineer.  It's been an exhausting but exhilarating experience so far.

To say that the other students are excited about this program would be a huge understatement.  We're all here to learn how to program and really want to be at Hackbright to learn how to do it.  It's an intense program but Christian, Liz and Cynthia are doing an amazing job teaching us the material and keeping our spirits up with humor (Harry Potter Houses and then some).

One thing I've learned is that pair programming is hard but I've found it to be a very good tool for learning.  It's hard because you need to communicate with your partner and always be engaged.  It also takes time to get in sync and develop a working rapport.  I'm also learning how to talk through the problems and get comfortable vocalizing how the code works.  This will definitely be a useful skill during technical interviews!

I took a break from the computer on Saturday but on Sunday I was surprised at how excited I was to do my homework and even more excited that I was able to solve it (yippie!!).

Printmaking at Waza - Keep Your Fingers Behind the Blade

Sutro tower hiding behind fog, vintage
muni and the TransAmerica building

I was invited back to Waza, Heroku's developer gathering, to hold a printmaking workshop.  So what does printmaking have to do with development?  The name of the event "waza" is the Japanese word for "art and technique." Heroku's event was a celebration of the art of software development.  I think one of the key take-aways was for developers to understand that what they do really is a craft.

Like developers, artisans hone their craft in parallel ways.  Printmakers make sure they keep their tools sharp and experiment with multiple (and new) tools to find the best ones for the job.  Collaboration with others helps to evolve the craft.  I was definitely surprised by the diversity of approaches.

I was really excited that a lot of attendees wanted to make a linocut.  There were many crafting stations at Waza including quilting, origami and bookbinding and it was great that people tried something they don't normally do.  I wish I could have tried some of those other crafts too!

The best compliment I received was when people said it was a lot harder than it looked.  Initially it may seem that way but once you have a basic understanding of how to use the proper tools it will get a lot easier!

First Day, First Post - Hackbright Academy

What a whirlwind first day at Hackbright Academy, a developer bootcamp for women.  Walking up the steps to the classroom you could hear the excited buzz of teachers and students.  The day went by quickly as we met each other and even did pair programming to cover the introductory coding exercises.  There was a lot of laughter and also warnings of tears--a lot of tears.  It's going to be a hard, frustrating 10 weeks but it's the kick in tush I've need to make the transition from front-end to back-end development.