Hackbright Academy Fellowship, Day 1

It's been a big day.  Today I began the Hackbright Academy software engineering fellowship.  This has been a long time in the works.

I'm keeping this blog during my time in the fellowship for a few reasons.  One: as a diary for myself to record my journey, and my transformation into a software engineer.  It's going to be fascinating when, after the 12 weeks have passed, to be able to go back and look at all I've accomplished and how I've changed--both professionally/skill-wise, and personally.  Two: as a way to keep my friends updated on what I'm up to, as there's not going to be much time for socializing away from school!  (I love you guys, and I'll catch you as I can, if I can...and definitely on the flipside.)  Three: I've been told that potential employers are often interested in checking out the blogs of coding bootcamp students they're considering, so I figure it's a smart move in that regard.

So...for those of you unfamiliar with what Hackbright Academy is--it's a 12-week intensive coding/software engineering program for women, with a strong focus on the Python programming language.  I won't get into too much detail just yet, but as we go along I'll be posting about what I'm learning, my project(s), and general life & activities at Hackbright.

Here's their website--take a peek if you're interested in reading a bit more about my new home for the next 12 weeks.  (Many of you know that I'm not a complete newbie to Hackbright, as I just finished their part-time Introduction to Programming course a week and a half ago.)

https://hackbrightacademy.com/

I'll confess now that this is the first time I've ever kept a blog.  So please, bear with me as I learn how to do this properly, haha!  In researching different bootcamps, I found that a lot of the students keep blogs during their experience--I read several of them (particularly from Hackbright fellows, once I'd decided that it was my top pick), and wanted to keep my own as well.

As this is my introductory post, I won't get into too much more detail for now.  So before I wrap this up for the night, a few things:

--Our cohort is the Ada cohort, named for Ada Lovelace, who is frequently regarded as the first computer programmer.  You can read about her on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

--At Hackbright, Harry Potter is a big thing, and amongst other practices, we're divided up into Houses.  The House you're sorted into doesn't depend upon your traits, as it does at Hogwarts when it's your turn to put on the Sorting Hat; rather, it's simply assigned based on who your advisor is.  That said, I was sorted into Slytherin, which is just fine with me.  For those familiar with Harry Potter canon, and who know my traits & qualities...you know I'm not really a Gryffindor, and *certainly* not a Hufflepuff!  I have strong Ravenclaw tendencies, and significant Slytherin leanings as well.  Really, I'd probably consider myself a hybrid House: Slytherclaw.  For now though, I'll list some of the typical qualities of a Slytherin that I identify within myself.

*Cleverness *Ambition *Cunning *Resourcefulness *Determination *Self-Preservation

Perhaps I'll get more into Slytherin-related matters in future posts, but I think for now, that will do. :D

I'm going to try to make this blog a mostly-daily affair...though as we get deeper into project time, I suspect it will become a bit more sporadic.  We'll just play that by ear.  Also, I still have a lot of fiddling around to do with colors, layouts, etc.  Like I said--first blog, lol.

Time to wrap up this post for the night...I need to make dinner, feed Brody (my tubby-tabbycat), take care of my homework, and get a good night's sleep.  Back at it again in the morning!

-M

(Oh--one addition: here's a picture of me with Stress Dog.  He's one of the "support staff" that lives at Hackbright.  He was my lecture buddy up on the 3rd floor during the Intro class, and I'm so happy his home is now on the 2nd floor during my time in the fellowship!)