End of Foundations: Learning plan reflection
What is your long term goal and/or career pathway
I view the world as dynamic. I don’t understand the purpose of long-term goals as the person I will be when the next stage arrives will be different from who I am at the time of setting goals. I plan my life in steps and directions. The current step must be finished in order for the next step to be decided. I will learn about programming and myself each day of the course, so it’s impossible to predict what my interests and strengths will be at the end. I want to have a well-paying job that I find interesting, security, flexibility of location and WFH options - the specifics will reveal themselves along my career path.
What do you think your biggest strengths and limitations will be in Bootcamp?
They are mostly the same but I would add that I struggle to communicate effectively regarding technical matters and find it very difficult to engage with videos and video calls.
I think the struggle with videos and video calls will be a problem during bootcamp. I have purchased some fidget toys in the hopes they might help.
What do you think your biggest non-technical challenge at Bootcamp will be?
Keeping on top of my self-care/wellbeing. I have been feeling unwell for a long time and have a lot of anxiety around long-covid (therefore covid in general). This has all added to my self-care falling apart. Sleep schedule, exercise, diet, etc have all been things I am struggling with. I don’t feel comfortable going to the gym, nor seeing my family based in Christchurch (as my step-brother is working in person at a theatre). I also don't have a strong support system, even with my family. Thankfully I have amazing flatmates and they have a cute cat who helps a lot with moral, but I’m not going into bootcamp in an ideal situation, with great health, and great habits. I am quite worried about how I will manage that side of things.
What non-technical skills - human skills - would you like to see developed in yourself while at Dev Academy?
Skills to help me thrive in a professional environment, such as: communication, hard conversations, leadership skills, confidence, speaking in front of others, giving and receiving feedback, working in teams.
What are your expectations from the Bootcamp team?
Support for me looks like reassurance that I am doing well enough, answering questions when I find the instructions or resources to be too ambiguous and require interpretation, helping me to see my strengths/what I've done well, and helping me to understand where I can improve and what resources will help me to do so.
What are your expectations of yourself on Bootcamp?
I will use pomodoro timers to manage and track my time. If I spent 20min trying to solve a problem with no success, I will reach out for help.
I will do my best to put my ego aside and be honest about the things I am struggling with.
I will do my best to look after my emotional, physical, and psychological wellbeing, reach out to the appropriate people if I am struggling to do so, and take action to find support needed.
My Learning Plan
What is your long term goal and/or career pathway?
Become a developer. Work in a technical role. Have a job I enjoy with a decent salary and flexibility for location and WFH options.
A description of your own strengths and limitations in relation to learning
Strengths: understanding abstract ideas, creative problem solving, empathy, I enjoy helping others, enjoy finding solutions, curious,
Limitations: Aim too high, have complex ideas, time management, prioritisation, focus (can be unfocused or hyper-focused), can lose time trying to solve problems or find better ways to do things without thinking to ask for help.
What skills (non-technical - human skills) would you like to see developed in yourself while at Dev Academy?
Working with others, time management, prioritisation, communicating professionally, confidence in my work, strategies to feel less anxious.
An explanation of how you will manage yourself to work productively and safely with other learners, facilitators and industry/community representatives.
Scheduling my study time, using pomodoro timers to manage how much time I am spending on each task, open communication, asking for support/help when needed.
What you will do when things are building up and starting to get to you
Speak to others, reach out for help, take a break/step back, make sure I'm eating/sleeping/ moving enough, try to identify and list my emotions, try to identify and list the causes, try to think of one thing I can do to improve each cause.
A commitment as to how and where you will seek help in a timely way.
My facilitator Sophia gave me great advice for this. She said if I have spent 20min trying to figure something out without success, I should ask for help.
A description of what you expect from the facilitation team
Guidance, understanding, feedback, suggestions for how I can improve.
Any scheduling information such as block-out times when you are committed to other things.
I plan to study between the following blocks of time. I will update as needed.
