Learning As 'One'- Linda's Story | Trent Global College of Technology & Management

To date, we’ve had several students who’ve shared their stories with us, on their experiences of joys and struggles alike while going through our bootcamp. However, we’ve only had one pair of students to-date who have had the benefit of joining and going through the bootcamp together as a couple.

It’s a little early for a Valentine’s special, but that’s not going to stop us in catching up with Linda, who’s currently working in DBS as a Developer and went through our Software Development Bootcamp with her husband Jimmy, whom we also spoke with on his experience in the programme.

LH: Hi everybody, I’m Linda and I spent several years in the media industry as a video/audio editor before attending a fullstack web development bootcamp with Trent Global College. In my free time, I like to cook up a storm in the kitchen, go for long walks and watch non-fiction programs.

For Linda, her journey in coding started when she stumbled upon several advertisements promoting easy-to-build websites. This combined with the evolving tech landscape led her to explore coding on her own to find out where it might lead her.

LH: It was quite exhilarating to see something come alive from lines of code, and I didn’t want to stop there. I also tried out Freecodecamp; a free online resource, to try out it’s web development track. Again, I felt like an artist or a creator being able to see things come to life from the code I wrote as I managed to develop a one-page website at the end of the curriculum.

However, that wasn’t enough for Linda as she continued to look into developing her coding know-how even further. After hearing about Trent Global from one of our graduates, she decided to enquire further with us on our Software Development Bootcamp.

LH: I had a day job with a shift schedule, so I could only attend classes outside of work hours and the schedule of the part-time programme was well-suited for me. However, even though it
was a well fit, I must stress that it was still a struggle to balance the different aspects! As with most working adults, it was a challenge to juggle shift work, family commitments, assignments and fitting in the 3-4 days’ class schedule in a week. Needless to say, I didn’t have much of a social life for the duration of the course.

On that note, it must’ve been fortunate for Linda that she had newfound quality time with her husband, as they both went through the course in the same batch.

LH: It was so interesting to see a different side of him in class as, he was always the class clown that lightened the atmosphere and overall it added a deeper dimension to our relationship. We spent time visiting cafes to do our projects together, helping each other with our coursework and working on assignments together. Even though we disagreed in some areas like visual preferences, we were able to iron out our differences and collaborate with one another. On hindsight it gave me a foretaste of what it’s like to work in a team.

As with many students we’ve heard from, going through the course was not a walk in the park, especially since Linda studied in communications and arts. She mentioned how she had to learn to structure her thoughts in a logical manner, to take a top-down approach with coding which was not what she was used to.

LH: What helped was doing small coding challenges during my off days, as practicing bit by bit goes a long way in my experience. I constantly reminded myself that sacrificing one’s time is expected for the duration of the course and that I would reap the rewards as long as I stuck with it.

Apart from my own motivation, it helped to have classmates who were very passionate about coding so we could spur each other on through the struggles. It also helped to have great teachers who shared their experiences in the industry and coached us in preparing for our interviews.

Now that she has managed to make her career-switch, she now finds herself in the position to help share with others who are exploring a career in coding as well, answering LinkedIn messages about her experience in the bootcamp from time to time.

LH: My greatest takeaway from this unforgettable journey is that given time, effort and opportunity, anyone can learn to code. It’s also not something that you have to experience alone either, as you can find supportive communities like the school’s teachers and support system, to finding support groups online. People from Junior Developers Singapore and Women Who Code were very encouraging and willing to share their knowledge as well.

Having someone to go through a bootcamp programme with you is certainly not the norm but clearly rewarding as Linda has put it. We’re happy to see both her and Jimmy embark and continue in their coding journeys together.

For the rest of us who may be thinking of starting their coding journeys, perhaps there’s someone in your life who you can ask to go for a coding class with, you might be surprised to find someone who’s looking to make a career switch too!