Enrolling in the boot camp took courage, but Alvin knew he made the right decision. “There is a satisfying feeling I get when I’m coding,” he said. “It felt good to get that feeling back. It wasn’t something I was getting from accounting.”
From day one, the program opened Alvin’s eyes to a new way of learning. With the help of his instructors, he tackled new material, worked through problems, and broke down code barriers piece by piece.
“It was intimidating at first,” said Alvin. “I was the youngest in the class, still being in college, but it was great to have such knowledgeable instructors and a group of people with the same interests as me. We became close quite quickly.”
The teaching assistants (TA) stood out to Alvin as well. Everyone was at different experience levels and working through the material at different paces. The TA's were available before and after class every day to help bridge any gaps. “The TA's didn’t just help those who were behind,” said Alvin, “They also helped those who were ahead like me to go beyond the prescribed curriculum.”
After mentioning that he was interested in data engineering, Alvin was given extra material and support to explore data science and Amazon Web Services (AWS)—something that would form the foundation of his biggest work project just a few months later.
