leandra M.

Before diving into the world of computer programming, I was a secretary at a doctors office. I
Loved my coworkers and even liked my job but wasn't being challenged
Enough. I was introduced to programming through sites like
Codecademy. I immediately fell in love with learning to code and wanted to
Know more. I was lucky enough to be able to leave my full-time job to
Dive into learning further. I started with self-learning through all of the
Free sites you have undoubtedly have heard of, but eventually felt like I was in a rut, constantly learning
Theory but not putting it into practice or knowing if I was doing it
Right! I discovered Practicum by Yandex through a Facebook programming
Group I had joined. I took the free introductory course for web
Development and flew through it. The promise of real world projects,
Actual reviews and a community to be a part of convinced me to sign up.

I am so happy I did! One of the best things for me is now I have
Accountability. The course is split up into two week "sprints" that
Give me a goal to achieve, which is a great motivator for me. The
Sprints are made up of two parts. First is theory, which you read about and then immediately practice
In exercises. I'm a hands-on learner myself, so practicing what I just
Learned in theory is so helpful. After the theory you work on a real world
Project. For these projects you learn how to use common development tools such as Figma, Github, VScode
And will have a website of your own creation at the end. Your projects are reviewed by
Professional web developers who give further sources for you to
Research if needed and explain why something should be done a
Different way. We also have a live coding session for every sprint
That further explains the theory and helps you see coding in action.
If that wasn't enough, there is a fantastic community of your fellow
Students set up on the chat program Slack. You are able to ask others who are working
On the same project you are questions or get advice. It's so nice to know I'm not
The only one struggling with a problem or succeeding! You get practice
In helping others if you can and there are senior students from other
Cohorts that help answer questions as well. On top of that, what I've
Found most helpful is my tutor. The tutor is there to answer your
Questions when you don't know something but in a way that leads you to the
Answer instead of just giving you the solution outright.

Also I can tell everyone on the Practicum team wants me to succeed.
They give you countless resources and listen to your feedback. They
Want to improve the course for all students.
If you're on the fence about trying a bootcamp I would say jump over
And sign up for Practicum by Yandex, you won't regret it!