FSA: Graduation

July 18, 2015

Reflections

After thirteen strenuous weeks, I graduated Fullstack Academy yesterday.

The latter half of the program, also known as ‘Senior Phase,’ passed by before my eyes. In this time, I worked on an e-commerce site, a Twitter bot that replied to users with image summaries created from links to news articles, and a web app that provides dedicated rooms to the discussion of YouTube videos, dubbed Quokka.chat. Learning to work with other people was as invaluable as the practical experience gained from building with the MEAN stack. At this point, I am comfortable saying that I know these tools well enough to be useful in a team.

Graduation itself was bittersweet. I was really happy that I’d come this far, but also couldn’t imagine not returning to the office this coming Monday. I am going to miss the staff, the great friends I’ve made, and the comradery. The staff reassured us that it wasn’t goodbye, that Fullstack is forever, but it won’t be the same. Still, this is a major milestone in my life. I have been taught by world class instructors whom have provided me with the tools to pave the roads to success. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity and very happy to have attended Fullstack.

Special shout-out to Joe Alves, a brilliant mind and the primary instructor for our cohort. Thank you for making my time at Fullstack the best learning experience of my life.

Post-Fullstack

My plans for the next month or so will center around the job hunt. A great piece of advice from David of Fullstack was to be time-driven rather than goal-driven. Goals are important of course, but goals can’t always be met in a single day. He suggested that he’s been most successful when he blocks out hours in the day dedicated to specific tasks. I’ve decided to take his advice and create a schedule of my own. The first draft looks something like this:

READ (0930 - 1100)

• Do some JavaScript reading (I have a ton of books I’d like to read on this topic)

JOB STUFF (1130 - 1230)

• Look for leads, respond to inquiries, set up interviews

CODING CHALLENGES (1400 - 1630)

• Work on hard programming questions to prepare for technical interviews and to stay sharp

BUILD & LEARN (2000 - 2230)

• Work on a side project, use new technologies, always be learning

The schedule will likely be amended in some fashion, but the general structure is there. I left out blocks for eating and other things such as blogging, exercising, and interviewing. Writing technical blog posts is something I am planning to do more of regularly, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!