Telegraph Academy Prep II | Day 01
read 2 min (444 words) / write Aug 17, 2015
It was such an exciting feeling to be back in the classroom after nearly two years since I finished up my course at Cal. It was like the first day of computer lab combined with
At first, I was skeptical about the pace of the lecture; we spent so long discussing the structure of a function declaration and its invocation, it made me start to dread the possibility of the coursework pacing too slowly for my taste.
However, once we got the exercises, my energy completely changed as I started to engage with the material. The topics of the day involved JavaScript hoisting and scope. I met my first challenge in trying to reconcile how object declarations and assignments differed from class instantiations, but quickly found out that I was getting slightly ahead of myself. I’m not quite sure if I got all the answers I wanted but I was assured the following days would shed more light on these topics.
I guess it’s better to be anticipatory in my confusion rather than be completely behind and lost. I spent all weekend (mostly last night) finishing up the JS track on Codecademy and I tried a few more lessons before class started, which may not have been the best idea. Cramming is definitely a throwback to the way I used to study when I was student so I guess things just never change. But hopefully I’m a lot wiser now (hah!) that I’ve got a some history to learn from.
Today was my first exposure to pair programming—more like trio programming—and I’m not sure if I like it quite yet. Although, it was nice working in a group of three because I could watch the other two programmers play their driver/navigator roles while I just stood back and observed their interaction. But naturally I had to but in (a lot) and hijack most of the exercise to help me understand the concepts we were trying to explain to each other.
I want to keep a close eye on my interactions during these pair programming sessions and hopefully I’ll notice some improvements in my patience and in my ability to guide my partner(s). After all, if pair programming was part of a technical interview, this is the perfect opportunity to practice!
Well here’s to completing Day 1 and taking the next big step in becoming a web developer. I’m excited for these next two weeks and hopefully you’re reading this because you’re interested in what Telegraph Prep is all about from an insider’s perspective.
Catch you on the other side!
John