Recurse Center or Bootcamp?
Why and how you should apply to the Recurse Center My friend Priya made a blog post called "Should I go to a coding bootcamp or self-study", which inspired me to share my own experiences and thoughts on the matter.
My experience – to expose what I am biased towards
I originally decided that I'd like to learn programming around 2012, when I wanted to make a Russian-language online platform similar to Rookie Mag. I didn't understand that one could get away with finding a sort of suitable wordpress theme, and once I did, I felt so passionately about my ideal project that I figured I'd need to pay a programmer to make the exact theme that I'd envisioned for the platform. I was also inspired by this weird Russian listicle website called W-O-S, I loved how each article had some different animations and floating elements, and I especially loved the interactive quizzes.
I mention my inspiration for learning how to code as I think inspiration is imperative to take account of when deciding on the direction you will take it into the material world. My interest was in a counterculture of both Russian and American origins, and online media. So in 2015, I attended a mini course at the Moscow Coding School.
Well, first I took some introductory programming classes at Santa Monica College. At the time, the main prerequisite to any programming class was an introduction to computing as a whole. My homework assignment was to draw something in MS Paint. I hope this story can illuminate the reasons I recieved F (for failed) grades in my first year at SMC.
At Moscow Coding School, I learned introductory HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebGL.
Bootcamp
Self Study
Recurse Center Application
I have pubilished my own application to rc on my github.