The first day of school Part 5, Part #2

A little later then expected but here we are for part two of my journey into software development. To say that a lot has happened since my last blog is a little bit of an understatement... Let's begin where we left off last time.

When I published my last blog the signs were on the wall with the impending global health crisis of Covid-19. On Friday 14th March, Northcoders closed campus for the day to test the functionality of the course if it were to be delivered remotely. Unbeknownst to me, my last train ride into Manchester for a while would be on that very next Monday the 16th. Ramping up to the first endo of block's test, Northcoders had to take the (safest) decision to continue the course remotely from that point. An unexpected hurdle on my path, but it wouldn't be the last one to take.

As the world around us changed due to government regulations, so did my day to day experience. Going from a journey into bustling Manchester to staying at home, but mostly going from a classroom setting with a lot of interaction with both the tutors and fellow coursemates to a quiet house shared with my fiancee (who is also working full time from home) and our dog, is quite the change. You wouldn't expect writing code to be a huge beneficiary of being amongst other people, however, having two pairs of eyes on code makes the world of difference. Being able to bounce off each other is helpful, it enhances your knowledge and lets you see problems from a different view. In the remaining days of the third week I passed the test of my first block. Hurray! It would mean I could start the back end phase of the course. Our schedule, however, would be impacted by the move to remote learning. As the campuses of Leeds & Manchester were merged together, a week of voluntary courses where organized. It was a good look into what remote learning will look like for the coming weeks (or months?).

Yet it was also a week of personal doubt. Is this what I signed up for? How do I adjust to working from home? Will I be able to mirror the experience enough to get all the value out of the course that I would normally do? And what will the future look like with everything going on in the world?

My home working set-up This all accumulated into a message sent out on Friday morning the 27th. The option to postpone the course to an unknown date in the future when the world will resume "normality". After discussing with my other half at home and multiple coursemates I've taken the jump and decided to stay on course. Being able to improvise and adapt is a valuable skill. And being able to communicate with others while not physically in the same room might also come in handy one day...

This last week has been a mix of emotions, from feeling generally good about my understanding and having a high concentration level during lectures to despairing about falling behind and failing what should be, in my eyes, even the simplest of tasks. Millions of words have been spent about how different working from home is during this time, so I will spare you my rants. For now the most important thing to remember is to stay with it. Keep doing what I would normally do (ask questions!!) and try and finish my work. Don't become too obsessive and spend nights behind my computer getting frustrated if something doesn't work sometimes the best solution is taking a step away from the screen. If I can develop my abilities in a remote working environment, this will surely serve me well in my future job when the course is finished.