Today a chapter is ending.
A little more than three years ago I found a game-changing platform called Scrimba that helped me to learn web development. At the time I was underemployed, and looking to switch careers as soon as possible. Over the course of six months I went through the Frontend Developer Career Path - learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, git, GitHub, web APIs, UI design, React and more. I say that Scrimba was game-changing, because I don't think I would have been able to learn as much or be able to apply that knowledge in such a short time if it weren't for the interactive screencasts known as scrims. It's as if YouTube and VS Code had a baby, because you are listening to a teacher explain a concept and then you get to pause the video to interact with a code editor right there in the same browser window! Keeping my hands on the keyboard was an effective way for me to learn, and a lot of fun besides!
Throughout the course of my self-study, I marveled at what a great learning platform Scrimba is. I also engaged with an amazing Discord community that added so much to my experience. I found some study buddies, shared updates in the channels, asked questions when I got stuck, and helped other coders when they needed a hand. I got so much from the program and the community that I always knew I wanted to give back to it in whatever way I could.
Shortly after I finished the Career Path, Scrimba started a new program - a bootcamp that would offer students accountability, mentoring, exclusive projects and more. I learned about another important skill that is vital in web development - code reviews. I began working with the Scrimba Bootcamp as part of the code reviewer team, giving students detailed recorded feedback on the solo projects they were building. This was a fantastic experience all around - I ended up learning so much by reading other people's code and offering suggestions for them to optimize their project or consider alternative approaches.
It was such a joy to continue to be involved with the Scrimba community in this way. I continued to look for ways to pour into the community, and secretly had hopes that I would someday join the Scrimba team. I loved the work they were doing and wanted to be a part of it. Persistence and consistency paid off, and a year after I joined the code reviewer team I had the opportunity to become the code reviewer lead, and then eventually the bootcamp lead!
For the past year and a half, I have had the great honor of working as the learning program manager for the Scrimba bootcamp. It has been such a great experience, getting to know hundreds of dedicated students, and to see them progress in their coding journeys. I feel lucky that I was able to lead the team of brilliant mentors that brought such value to the program with their code reviews and mentoring sessions.
I am proud of the work I did with the bootcamp! As I expanded my network within the tech community, I invited guests to come and chat with the group during our weekly meetings. It was awesome to learn from their experience and expertise. I also started facilitating coding workshops to supplement what the students were learning on the career path. In these live sessions we took deep dives into different topics in web development. I encouraged other mentors on the code reviewer team to lead these as well, and I feel like we brought a ton of value to the group.
A few hours ago, I waved goodbye in my last Zoom session with the Bootcamp students. The Bootcamp program is coming to a close, and my chapter of working with Scrimba will be ending too. It is bittersweet, I'll admit. But as I told the students in this last meeting, everything comes to an end, but hopefully this is a chance for new beginnings. I've seen students come and go over the past two and a half years, so many of them finishing the career path and going on to find their first jobs in web development. We don't have to say good-bye though. We can say see you later. I look forward to keeping up with all of the incredible people I have met during my time with the bootcamp, and I'm excited for the next chapter for all of us.