Observing Shereef's Fireside Chat

you get what you put in

Before my application to DBC I saw part of this video. I tried to understand what kind of students they look for and wonder if it’s a fit. Now, after my first week, his fireside chat refresh my mind and reaffirm my determination to get fully prepared for what to come.

I always thought that the developer boot camp is just another name of the cram schools which I attend many years ago (and yes some book camps really are). However, based on my rudimentary taste of DBC experience, the coding and the web development is not the only focus here, what Shereef wants to inspire all cohorts here, is a special mindset leading to long journey toward software engineering. This mindset can be completely up side down thus he needs every one of us to get most of it by devote ourselves in every phase.

As a scientist before I enjoy the kitchen and restaurant analogy, because my previous career basically provided no menu, one has teach himself, find what’s need and personally prepare and cook it to serve (and yes most of experiments fail). I got the same feeling when going through the curriculum this week and kinda like it. We need to fully engage to get 100% ready so when we arrive campus, we can sprint right away to start our long journey.

One of my personal worries is “I am not good enough in this”. Frankly speaking, today I still think there must be a coding bug in their recruiting system that release my offer letter, sooner or later they are going to find out and kick me out. Under this impression, I am going to immerse and learn everything I can like there’s no tomorrow, after all, we can only get what we actually participate. It’s definitely a nervous and exciting life experience for me.