MEET CHELSEA A NEBULA ACADEMY SOFTWARE ENGINEERING STUDENT
Laurie Carey
I decided to enroll in Nebula Academy’s Software Engineering Bootcamp because I am ready for a change of career. The six-month program is a perfect fit to my full-time job schedule. When I first started the program, I was very nervous. I was unsure about whether or not I would be able to keep up with the fast paced nature of the course. I found that the best way for me to be successful in my learning is through not only being extremely attentive to the lectures, but also through dedicating time outside of class to understand and retain the material with confidence.
The program is designed in a way that allows for the learning process to be more accessible than any college course I have taken before. Similar to now, while completing my Bachelor's degree.
I maintained a full-time job. During that time I took a mix of online and in-person classes. I had negative experiences with my previous online classes due to the fact that the platform my university used, Blackboard, was not easy to navigate and the material had to be learned through the means of slides. There were no interpersonal connections with either the professors or other students, which caused for a difficult time within my virtual learning experience.
However, this class is incredibly different. Using Microsoft Teams allows each of us to connect and learn together from virtually anywhere in the world. The video chatting capabilities allow us to see and speak to each other while learning. The professor shares their screen while they teach so that we can see exactly what they are teaching and follow along easily. We are encouraged to ask questions as they arise and they are always immediately answered. Having the ability to share screens also means that if one of us is stuck we can share our own screens with the class and be walked through whichever problem we are having, and the professor can see exactly what we see. It is the next best thing to physically being together, and still fosters that interpersonal connection that I felt a lack of during my prior experiences at other institutions.
Office hours are also incredibly accessible with Teams. For my past in-person classes I had to shift my entire schedule around when a professor had their (limited) office hours. This included driving to campus, finding parking, and walking a typical mile to their office in the hopes that I would get the help I need. Now, I am able to simply open my laptop during hours that are held each day, and with the click of a single button I am immediately connected with either my professor or a teaching assistant eager to help. Any questions or issues that I am having can now be resolved in a matter of minutes. This system allows me to access higher levels of learning in an easier way, and cultivates confidence, as I feel like I can keep up with the class.
This absolute confidence I am finding within coding is what I enjoy so much about it. In past classes, I completed assignments to the best of my ability only to turn them in without knowing whether or not everything was correct. In this class, it is vastly different, as everything I turn in is already verified to be correct just by running my code through the terminal. This is beneficial not just for verification of a perfect grade but also as a learning mechanism. If I run a code through the terminal and it is incorrect the terminal will tell me where my error is so that I can go back and fix it. As someone who is a hands-on self-learner this is a fabulous feature because I can spot my error, go back to my notes to review the process, and try again. I can run my code through my terminal over and over again until I get it correct. Being able to check my work this way is an excellent way to apply and retain the information that we cover in class.
When I first began this program, I knew it was going to be fast-paced. I was very nervous that I was not going to be able to keep up. During the first weeks of class I was getting by, but it was definitely an adjustment, with so much information to process. It required me to really commit the time and energy to processing what was going on and retaining it. Last week, when we were learning about using code to solve mathematical problems, suddenly, everything clicked for me. Now I have functional skills that I already understand and can plug them into the new concepts I am learning. It is all making perfect sense now. Every single concept that used to seem abstract to me, is now applicable to a fact. This class session was monumental for me because it made me feel so accomplished and proud of myself.
Coding is now a tangible thing that I can do. Although I am only a few weeks into the program, and I still have so much more to learn, I am feeling so confident and excited. It is incredibly reassuring to know that if at any point I feel stuck, or feel that confidence waiver, I have quick and easy access to help every single day.
To learn more about Nebula Academy and our Software Engineering Bootcamps visit us at our website.