What I’ve Learnt About Myself

• I use my strengths to protect my ego. When I find something too hard, I avoid it by doing something that makes me feel comfortable, like picking up a guitar. In the moment it makes me feel competent, but it also means I stray from necessary growth.
• I tie my worth to how much I know. When someone tries to help me, I feel bad if I don’t understand what they're saying, as if I’m wasting their time. I struggle with accepting that learning is a process and that it’s okay not to know everything.
• I avoid discomfort at the cost of progress. I’ve realised I tend to steer away from things that make me feel incapable, even if they would help me improve. My ego prefers feeling competent over struggling through growth.

What I Think About Roles in Programming

• The reason I like coding is because I’m curious about computing and I value a challenge. It pushes me to dig deeper and learn new things. If I wasn’t naturally curious, I’d probably give up altogether when things get hard.
• I find my best music comes out when everyone in the band has input and actually adds something. The same goes for programming, it’s about having the empathy to let people bring their own thing to the table, and that usually makes the final product more interesting and connected, whether it’s a song or a coding project.
• Having the self-awareness to understand how I look at my values in programming helps me understand that I have things I need to work on. It also makes it obvious that I am very self-critical and need to allow myself some breathing room.

What I’ve Gained From Learning Human Skills

Human Skills has given me tools to self-reflect in a positive way. Now I have a better way to break them down and understand them without being too hard on myself.

What I Found Challenging

Acknowledging that I don’t quite follow the rulebook of neuroplasticity and that it’s probably why I have trouble learning new things.

Why I Think Human Skills Matter in a Bootcamp

I think focusing on Human Skills makes sense because they’re a big part of programming in the real world. In web development, you’re not just coding on your own; you’re working with a team where different values and ideas come together every day. Being able to communicate, collaborate, and empathise with others is just as important as the technical stuff.

Does The Time Spent on Human Skills Feel Like a Waste?

I think it depends on the type of person you are. If you already possess great human skills, perhaps a good chunk of it could be directed to technical learning. However, for myself it was a reminder that my human skills need improving. Investing time into a routine of healthy habits makes sense and I'll benefit from it in the long run.