I knew I had to go into a classroom setting to lea...

I knew I had to go into a classroom setting to learn coding after several halfhearted attempts trying it myself with online courses. The material in those courses are great and I still use them from time to time but I find that it is all too easy to get discouraged as coding can be downright intimidating to a novice.

Taking the Intro to Web Development and the subsequent Advanced Web Dev courses gave me the structure and guidance I needed to actually absorb the material. I wouldn't say that was all I required though. The assignments forced me to actually commit but it was just as frustrating as when I self-directed my own learning. In fact, after what I thought was a lacklustre submission of the first assignment, I was almost convinced that perhaps coding just wasn't for me.

What actually turned it around for me eventually was something I wasn't really expecting. The people at HackerYou are genuinely passionate and excited about coding. The energy is palpable when you first walk into their office and see all of their Boot-camp students busily typing away.

I mean, maybe it's just me working in Banking and Insurance for 10 years as seeing people actually be passionate about their work just seems all too foreign. But my Instructor's enthusiasm is what kept my attention throughout and motivated me to, at the very least, stay the course.

I'm glad I did. The excitement HackerYou possesses is infectious and it soon rubbed off on me. I eventually got a better grasp of the material taught and impressed myself with work I submitted later into the class.

HackerYou didn't just teach me code, they gave me insight into the industry and what programs, platforms, etc are in use now. The Instructor and TAs showcase a repertoire of their skill-set (many of which were first gained at HackerYou's intensive Boot-camp program) and how they managed to attain them and more importantly, how they keep up to date with the industry as it's constantly in flux.

What I got out of HackerYou's Intro courses wasn't just the basic ability to code but also the insight into how incredibly vast the possibilities are within the industry. The courses I took was just a tiny morsel of what's really out there but now, instead seeing this as an incredibly daunting endeavour and throwing in the towel; I can actually get excited at just how much there is out there and how many different paths I can take for a career change, or a means to an extra stream of income. Or even just to follow a new passion.