Bootcamp Learning Plan

What is your long term goal or career pathway?

I have a set goal, and I want to stake my claim here. I will be one of the interns working for ARUP from Haututu Hacklab. This opportunity to work for a company dedicated to enabling and empowering sustainable kaupapa, while at the same time staying close to the community that has nurtured me and loved me for the past four years, was the main motivation behing signing up for this course. And so, here it is, by the end of Career Skills I'll have secured a position as a paid intern for ARUP, my first step in my tech journey, right here in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa.

A description of your strengths and limitations when it comes to learning

For this next portion of road ahead I forsee an interesting dynamic when it comes to my learning patterns. I usually tend to absorb big chunks of information all at once, and assimilate them at a surprisingly fast pace. But when it comes to reflecting on it, since the size of the chunk is so big, it takes me a long time to find the right terms to put words to my understanding of the topic. I have seen evidence of this throughout foundations, reflected mainly in my tendency to leave the reflections to the last minute, and sometimes my unwillingness to write anything on the subject. This may be tied to fear of failure or of being wrong, which isn't a new thing for me. I am not worried about this, though. If I can see it clearly, I can solve it.

What skills (non-technical core/human skills) would you like to see developed in yourself while at Dev Academy?

Going through foundations I discovered how well my communication skills worked when collaborating with my peers, and expressing myself in general. So, for bootcamp I want to focus on organisational skills. I want to be able to stick to a schedule, be on time to every lecture, morning check-in, coding session and everything else that may come. I want to finish my tasks when I decide to and not when I feel like it. I want to know that I can perform at a professional level and contribute to my team in a timely manner. So I will be focusing on having a schedule and following it successfully, as well as designing it to play to my strenghts and my rythms.

A commitment to how you will manage your workload in this programme. This should include:

I plan to stick to my learning schedule, start my days by touching base with myself and finding a place of mindfulness to start from, make sure my diet and sleep schedules are working for my goals and not against them. I plan to check in with my peers and have an understanding of where they are standing for the day, keep that in mind as we go and try to support to the best of my abilities. I know when I start feeling the pressure is a good time to take off my headset, look away from the screen and talk to my mates at Tāiki e!, have something to eat or meditate to get centred again. I’ll communicate with my team, so they are aware I’m taking a break and why, to make sure we are still coordinating and looking after each other. I have commited to these intentions during foundations to an extent I am happy with, now I want to double up my commitment through bootcamp, knowing in this lies the path to success.

A commitment as to how and where you will seek help in a timely way

I’m doing this course to acquire new ways to open paths for a better future for myself and those around me. I'll keep that in mind at all times, so when something is not working out I can find the help I need to reach my goals. In addition to this, I want to involve my Tāiki e! whānau more in my process, make it more available to anyone interested, just like we have done within our cohort, as I know how much this benefits everyone involved.

A description of what you expect from the Facilitation team

I’d love to find in them mentorship and guidance, someone kind that can remind me of the joy of a learning process and hopefully a friend I can tell my stories of success and failure to. I would also look to them for advice on preparing for what comes after bootcamp, I would like to learn about their career and how it has evolved and them with it.

Any scheduling information such as block-out times when you are committed to other things. For example, you might have whānau commitments like school drop-offs. It's important to plan these in.

My wife and I carpool on the days she works, so I want to be able to drop her off before 8:45 am and pick her up at 5:30 pm on those days. I’m happy to say this all aligns with my intended study schedule.

Foundations Learning Plan

What is your long term goal or career pathway?

I want to be part of a great team. In the past I’ve found that the times I have learned the most and felt happiest while at work was when I was part of a caring, motivated and supportive team, where we could rely on each other to get everything done and feel good about ourselves at the end of the day. I have many passions and avenues I would like to explore in the tech world, from AI and machine learning, to videogames and online learning platforms. There are many things I would love to learn to do, but doing them with a great team would make all the difference in the world.

A description of your strengths and limitations when it comes to learning

Learning has always been something that comes natural to me. I can take in large amounts of new information and integrate them in my existing catalogue to complement and grow my understanding of many topics, but I get really hungry for it, and can forget that stopping and assessing is just as important as covering new ground. I have a way of sinking my teeth into a problem and not letting go until its done and dusted completely, so I don’t give up easily either. But, trying to solve everything on my own has sometimes backfired as well. Finding help at the right times of the process is still part of my list of things to learn.

What skills (non-technical core/human skills) would you like to see developed in yourself while at Dev Academy?

I want to be able to always communicate with my peers from a place of truth and compassion. I believe it is fundamental to be able to be vulnerable with people in my team, to trust and rely on them; and I find it very hard to do if I have no clarity of what their needs and expectations are, as well as them knowing mine.

A commitment to how you will manage your workload in this programme. This should include:

A commitment as to how and where you will seek help in a timely way

A description of what you expect from the Facilitation team

I’d love to find in them mentorship and guidance, someone kind that can remind me of the joy of a learning process and hopefully a friend I can tell my stories of success and failure to.

Any scheduling information such as block-out times when you are committed to other things. For example, you might have whānau commitments like school drop-offs. It's important to plan these in.