Being Successful in WDI

By Julie Sakalys, Developer in Residence, WDI SEA 06

1. Brace yourself. Let’s face it, programming is hard. The first two weeks of this course, especially, will require you to rewire your brain to understand the language of the computer. You need to be prepared mentally and emotionally for this jarring adjustment. Think Plato’s Cave analogy.

2. Embrace your ignorance. Not getting things is normal, at least at first. Exposure, practice, and review can get you there, but what you really need is to be relentless in your pursuit of understanding and be content with the fact that you don’t know it all, yet.

3. Build a solid foundation. Concepts learned in the first few weeks of the course are absolutely vital and will come back to revisit you again and again. If you feel that your foundational understanding is lacking, use your weekends and free time to review the core concepts.

4. Take charge of your own learning. There is a lot of material in this course, and you will at times feel like you are falling behind. It is your responsibility to advocate for yourself and your own learning. If you are not understanding a concept, it is up to you to raise your hand, ask for clarification, or review with a TA during office hours.

5. Attitude is everything. Those who will be the most successful as lifelong learners are the ones who won’t crumble in the face of adversity. Acknowledge the fact that you probably know more today than you did yesterday, and that you just need to keep moving forward.

6. This is not a race. Your pace is not the same as everyone else in class. You are not a failure if you are struggling with a concept that others seem to understand. Note that I said seem. Friendly competition is a good thing, and will motivate you to become better.

7. Refer to your peers for help. As you go through this course, you will see different people take naturally to different concepts, languages, or frameworks. Approach these people to see if they can help you understand. Often, this will benefit them as much as you, because they will have a chance to solidify their understanding as they teach you.

8. Help others. Conversely, you may be the one to grasp a concept more fully than the rest of your peers. Helping to share your knowledge and understanding with others who are struggling will help to make your class stronger.

9. Remember why you are here. It’s probably because you were looking for a challenge, wanted to learn something new, or understand technology better. Whatever the reason, it’s because of that that you are here now. When you are struggling in this course, ask yourself, if given the chance to forget all that you have learned and pretend that it never happened, would you take it? Hopefully, your answer would be 'no'.

10. Stay involved in GA. After the course, you may want to take off for a while and have a rest. That’s fine, but don’t be a stranger. Your peers and fellow GA colleagues are invaluable resources for life. You are only as strong as your network. Come back and visit for happy hours, social events, and keep your peers updated on your progress post-course.