Day 22: Advanced Object-Oriented Programming

I feel like I should go through an average day at Coding Dojo. The day officially begins at 9AM but many show up as early as 8AM to get set up and continue the work from the previous night. At 9AM we spend 30-45 minutes on an algorithm challenge where we break off into groups of three to solve one algorithm problem. At the end one team presents and after that we work on the tasks for the day. The assignments involve reading instructions on the day's subject followed by a series of assignments. The instructors offer some guidelines and there are some TA's around to help but classmates are encouraged to rely on each other. Around noon we break for lunch. After lunch the instructor holds a lecture for an hour. After that it is back to our tasks which most of us work on until 8 or 9PM. By then most of us are spent and go home.

They call this an immersive experience and I could see why. VT told me last week that before coming here he worked as a teacher in South Korea for two years. Prior to the experience he didn't know a word of Korean. Two years later he's speaking fluently. He immersed himself completely into that country that he was forced to learn another language to the point of fluency. The same can be applied for almost any subject a person wants to learn. Coding bootcamps require you to be here all day in order to be immersed into the world of coding, which can cause you to learn so much in such a short period of time. I got to keep that in mind for my ambition to learn fluent German.

But I digress. Today was all about linked lists. After a good night sleep I was able to to solve the singly lists. Then in the afternoon came double links. It was a nightmare back in college but the way they approach it here and the experience I've had back then makes it easier to pick up.

For a couple of days some students have been getting Vietnamese coffee which they allege is the strongest stuff they've ever had. In the afternoon VT and RS went to get some and I was fighting the temptation to sleep and agreed to come along. I was so desperate to stay awake that I had forgotten that I can't drink coffee. It doesn't agree with me. I got a cup and it was the most concentrated brew I have ever had. It didn't hit me for a couple of hours and now I feel super jittery but my brain is still fighting the temptation to sleep.

I need to get up and walk. I'll talk to you later.