My ’futureCoders’ journey
Jamie Knott, work experience student, writes about his journey so far with futureCodersSE. Jamie is a BTEC Level 3 IT student at Mid Kent College.
This time last year, my knowledge of programming was virtually non-existent. My stereotypical (and largely unfair) idea of computer programming was that it served solely as the pastime for basement-dwelling computer geeks, who spent most of their free-time staring at monitors. This is clearly a flawed belief, but it shows the level of naivety and ignorance that I possessed this time last year (concerning programming). Never did I actually consider it to be a potential career path for myself nor did I see myself being suitable for that kind of work (which I believed to be outside of my skillset). This may sound strange considering I was already enrolled on a computing course and had much experience working on computers but my plans for a future career were blurred to say the least. All of this changed, however, earlier this year.
During one unordinary day in June, I was approached by two of my college lecturers who stated that they had a potential opportunity for me, should I be interested in it. Prior to that day I had previously heard of an organisation called futureCoders (mostly from leaflets circulated around the college) but I paid it no attention as I felt I was far too inexperienced at programming to even consider applying. Despite my uncertainties, I decided to attend a programming workshop being run by futureCoders, as I felt there was no real harm in trialling out the kind of work that the organisation was about.
Whilst I felt that it would be a beneficial experience to join futureCoders, I still felt that my lack of programming experience made me unsuitable to join futureCoders. I continued to feel this way for a large portion of my opening weeks (even months) with futureCoders and I attempted to tackle the smallest or simplest tasks I could take on. Whilst my lack of experience in a new form of work justified that feeling somewhat, I feel I may have lacked certain self-belief in that I could handle such as drastic change of work to what I had previously been used to (such as essay and report writing). Looking back now, I have started to see the major benefits that I have experienced through joining futureCoders and am struggling to find any real negatives to my decision to join (except perhaps for waking up at 8am every Saturday).
The most obvious benefit of joining futureCoders is the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained (in only five months) and experience of programming I’ve had (using Java, html, CSS and JavaScript-including angularJS). In recent weeks it has become very noticeable to me that I have grown in my level of programming knowledge in addition to my web development skills. Whilst earlier in the year, my approach to web development was through opening Adobe Dreamweaver to manufacture some 5 page monstrosity of a website, I am now able to confidently create more interactive websites with a higher level of complexity and sophistication (with background scripting). My logical thinking skills have also changed through my experience with futureCoders and I feel that I now approach new problems or difficulties with a different, deeper level of thinking.
Whilst futureCoders has undoubtedly provided me with a fantastic head start in developing and expanding my programming knowledge, there is also the benefit of both having appeased any work experience demanded by my college (which seems to be increasing dramatically each year in terms of the hours being required for it) as well as having actual meaningful work experience. The prior work experience I had had before futureCoders, was spending a week meticulously and monotonously inputting and editing a company’s database. Whilst it was a somewhat insightful experience into the inner workings of a fairly large charity organisation, it cannot be compared to the beneficial experience I’ve obtained from my short time with futureCoders. There is also the added benefit of being able to list my experience with futureCoders on my CV, which I suspect will give me a greater advantage in applying for Universities or apprenticeship programmes. There is also the important aspect to futureCoders in that it provides a form of bridge between education and actual work in industry. Whilst Universities and other higher education courses are fantastic for expanding a student’s knowledge of a certain speciality, there is a dramatic step-up from further education into a related industry job (which graduates will often struggle with adapting into). FutureCoders help to rectify this problem, by providing students like myself, with valuable work expereince that provides an insight into a related programming job.
In addition to the academic benefits that futureCoders has provided me with, there are also the mental and emotional benefits associated with working in a team as well as contributing to meaningful projects. Whilst my confidence in myself had always been strong prior to joining futureCoders, I feel that the experience has helped me to grow as an individual and has also helped me to expand my thoughts concerning possible career paths that I could take.
Since joining futureCoders, I have assisted in completion of a digital annual report for a mental health charity (using html, CSS, JavaScript/AngularJS) which was intended to help the charity make their annual report more interactive and interesting to view. The project gave me a great insight into the technical inner workings of a SPA (single page application) in addition to the complexities of how projects are managed and organised.
Whilst my experiences with futureCoders have been greatly beneficial so far, I suspect that there is much more for me to learn. The next project that futureCoders will be tackling sounds incredibly interesting and I am greatly looking forward to how I will be able to contribute and learn from the project. The project will incorporate elements of a virtual art gallery game with an Amazon Alexa skill (that will take user input concerning art pieces and will use voice analysis to output data in a visual format). As I have a keen interest in developing my knowledge of using Java, I am eager to continue developing my skillset in addition to contributing to a meaningful and hopefully successful project.
