Here's a link for anyone interested in checking out WeatherWare! The app was built with Ruby on Rails, some JavaScript, Bootstrap for the front end, Heroku, and the Weather Underground API. I believe the project took me two or three weeks. He set deadlines for what he wanted me to have accomplished for each meeting and I, of course, went to him if I got really stuck on something. I came up with the idea and built it on my own, but my mentor and I worked together on the planning and timing of the project. My Bloc capstone project was WeatherWare, an app that suggests proper attire based on a user’s current local weather data. Tell us about a project you're proud of that you made during Bloc. Some of the concepts are very complex, but Bloc breaks the process down into manageable pieces. Programming was, and still is, very new to me. He was encouraging and supportive, but also very honest and quick let me know if I needed to spend more time with a particular problem or concept. Thankfully, my mentor was always there to help me understand the areas where I had the most difficulty. There were times here and there where I got really stuck, even frustrated, and felt unsure about my ability to complete the program. I never experienced burnout, despite the rigorous demands of the program. Being an online program, Bloc has really done a great job at creating a sense of community.ĭid you ever experience burnout? How did you push through it? After completing Bloc, however, I’ve met and interacted with a bunch of other Bloc alumni. No, I didn’t interact with any other Bloc students during the program (aside from another student I coincidentally met while taking a Lyft here in San Francisco).
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He was also always available for any questions as they came up, although he always stressed the importance of learning how to research and solve my own questions-an invaluable skill for any web developer.ĭid you interact at all with other students in Bloc during your class? Jarod and I had multiple regular skype meetings every week where we would go over my progress, the details of my work, and plan what I would work on for our next meeting. The mentor experience, a cornerstone of the Bloc format, was extremely personal.
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Yes, I got to choose my mentor, Jarod, a senior software engineer at a popular gaming company. As far as other online programs (other than the more hobby-level, yet still wonderfully useful sites like codeacademy, treehouse, etc.), I was unaware of any at the time.ĭid you get to choose your mentor? Who was your mentor and how personal was the mentor experience? That eliminated all the in-person boot camps right off the bat. I ultimately chose Bloc because I was already working and taking classes, so I needed a flexible program that worked around my schedule. I first read about Bloc in a SF Chronicle article about 8 months before I enrolled. Why did you choose Bloc over other online programs? Did you consider an in-person immersive bootcamp or did you know you wanted to learn online? I did, however, complete a handful of codeacademy and treehouse courses before deciding on Bloc, both of which really developed my interest in coding.
I majored in biology (but never finished) when I was younger and the highest math I’d ever completed was AP calculus in high school. I didn’t have any formal technical training when I applied for Bloc. So when I began Bloc I was a student, and still am.ĭid you have a technical background before you applied? I had recently left that position and returned to school in pursuit of a linguistics degree. What were you doing before you started at Bloc?īefore Bloc I was a regional sales manager for a natural food product company. We chat with Jay about his experience at Bloc, how the online program has managed to create a sense of community, and how he's continued learning after graduation! Remember, the Course Report community is eligible for a $100 scholarship to Bloc! So he signed up for Bloc, chose his mentor, and got to work. When Jay Ottenstein decided to learn to program, he knew he needed a flexible training schedule that still facilitated his love of learning.
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