Time to Learn the New Way: My First IT Internship
During the Django Girls workshop, I talked to the owner of Deployed.pl, one of the sponsoring companies, about what they did and what possibilities they offered to junior developers. After a quick chat and viewing my portfolio on Github they offered me an internship, so I could see myself how they worked and have a try in the IT industry. The intership took almost 4 months and was divided into two distinguishable parts with an interview in the middle. Below I'm presenting briefly what I've learned and my impressions.
You GO Girl! Django Girls: a Coach's Perspective
After a few months of learning and programming at home, I applied for the Django Girls Cracow 2016 workshop, this time as a coach. I wasn't sure if my IT skills would suffice, but I was sure I owed it to other women. Participation in the workshop in 2014 left me inspired and motivated, so why not doing the same for others? I was accepted! And even more good news - I landed an IT internship afterwords with one of the sponsoring companies!
Introduction to Computer Science and Python
Recently I've completed the MIT course "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python" offered by the edX platform and taught by Eric Grimson - a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at MIT. It teaches basic Python, but it's not a typical online programming course. It's a challenging, rigorous and pretty formal exposure to computer science, where Python seems to be taught by the way. It gives a lot of opportunities to practice and to analyse problems. It teaches how to think and act like a computer scientist. And also how to think recursively and reduce problems into smaller chunks.
Interactive Programming in Python
Another Python course offered by Coursera and one of my favourite. It's fast-paced and challenging. From lesson one students build interactive applications in a browser-based programming environment. No prior programming experience is required, but if you already know the basics, you won't get bored.
Programming for Everybody: Python
After the Django Girls workshop, I looked for other opportunities to learn Python. Coursera was free of charge back then, so I took some of their online courses. One of the them was "Programming for Everybody (Python)," offered by the University of Michigan. It took me around 2 hours a week for 11 weeks to complete it. I considered it time well spent for someone who had just started her adventure with programming and wanted to build a solid foundation. But I have mix feelings now after discovering that Coursera requires payment for that course. If you are thinking about enrolling for it, you may like reading my review.