The motivation to write this post was to complete a part of the end-of-the-week assignment for the first week in Launch Academy. The assignment consisted of doing a brief, very simple coding exercise consisting on creating three functions in Ruby, one to return the smallest element in an array full of integers, the second to return the biggest element and the third to return the average of those elements. The objective of this post was to describe if and how my way of thinking changed this week, and the fact that the programming exercise is already finished is already a good example.
I always had a problem with procrastination, but I'm not having this problem at all yet. Actually, it's quite the opposite: having something to do that is not yet done is greatly bothering me.I also have another exercise to complete, the fourth of the 'extra practice' topic,and the only exercise that is not complete yet (apart from the 'comet' exercises, that I'll do systematically on the weekends to keep my mind always focused on programming), that I'll start to work on as soon as I finish this post.
Another thing that has changed (actually improved) is that I'm way less willing to give up a hardship. So far, the exercise that I had to struggle the most to complete was the first challenge given. I was late and it was also the first day, so I was really nervous and not that immersed in development, so I'll excuse myself for this almost-failure as long as I keep being able to do a good job. Being in Launch Academy always keeps me on the edge - seeing all these people trying to finish the same thing as me, knowing that I have instructors to provide me with insights and feedbacks, the internal pressure to succeed in the course-, I just feel that I MUST finish what I started, because it is a growth opportunity of a lifetime. However, having my mind focused so much on programming kinda makes my language skills drop to a level that even I am able to notice that they are not very good (I was born in Brazil, entered the US as a Spanish citizen). People I've met on this trip have always complimented my English speaking ability, and this has not happened once in LA (I even won a 'Best Accent' weekly award, and I'm not sure if that is a very good indicator that I can express myself clearly).
On the technical part, I opened my mind a little to try new approaches using more the tools that are available to me, and I'm also better able to judge them. I've been using (and struggling with) OS X for the course, which does not change a lot my working environment since I started to study programming using an Ubuntu, but some new and unknown features are kinda annoying and I'm still getting used to them and really starting to like the Mac. I'm also using the Sublime text editor, but I sincerely miss my Ubuntu text editor, that limited itself on having the very convenient feature of text highlighting based on the language being used; I've heard that some text editors have features that makes you dumber,lazier and less focused on the code, and I'm still inclined to believe that. I also started to learn programming using Python, and I was really stubborn when it came to using Ruby's unique features like blocks, but I have realized that I'll have a better understanding of Ruby if I embrace instead of fight against these peculiarities, and in the short term, I'll be better able to comprehend the course material and to 'speak the same language' as my colleagues, who mostly seem to be newer in programming than me and learning to 'computer think' in Ruby.
One thing that is letting me down a little is realizing how hard the dream of working in the US actually is. Sure, after I leave LA, and by keeping up the hard work through the course, I'll be very able to pursue a career in a country with a better life standard and more developed software industry than Brazil, but I guess I'll achieve the most as a professional in a place with a high-quality standard, top technology pole and sophisticated economic activity such as the US. Well, as being in the middle of such a great personal challenge, I can't allow myself to lose balance now and must keep focused on becoming a better professional, maybe I can make a few contacts here that pass me some interesting freelance jobs and try to go to Ireland or the UK, wherever the IT industry is growing more.
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