2021 And A Story Of Progress
It’s been quite a ride.
Where do I start? How do I even begin to tell this story? I suppose, as was the case with every literary marvel till date, an alphabet. Which in this case appears to have been a “w”.
I’ll take that; think that’s a good start. This has been a year of small “w”s — which, if you haven’t figured out by now, stands for wins — but it didn’t start out like that, it started out awfully. I was neck-deep in a personal mess, a situation entirely of my own making. A series of bad decisions finally caught up to me and I had to face them and deal with them. There was a lot of turbulence, it was a deeply emotional but ultimately rewarding experience for me, one that took all of four months.
Tough times don’t last, tough people do
During this time, two things, well not things per se, more like positives, two positives kept me grounded; God — I’m a Christian and I rely on this relationship for balance; mentally and otherwise— and a singular “Goal”. At the turn of the year, I set myself a target of finding and committing to a program — one that allowed me to focus on learning and sharpening my Design and Development skills — for six months.
Six months away from all the noise and distractions.
I had been studying and learning Frontend Web Development for about two and a half years, volunteered on a few programs, took boot-camps, delved into other aspects of the industry; UI/UX, Backend Development etc. but I wasn’t committed. I’d study for months then go off trying to nail down a job, looking to earn some income; sometimes I’d get something, quickly become disillusioned with it then return to practicing development and have to start all over again. Felt like a lot of scurrying around without much focus on anything. I needed an environment where I could shut everything else out, hone my skills professionally and be job ready.
Enter Univelcity…
4 months ago, on a cool Wednesday evening in early May; Stephanie, my angel of a girlfriend(a Godsend), who was visiting at the time, came up to me with her phone, urging me to look into a program she’d just come across on Instagram. I was skeptical at first, cos In February I’d found a program offering the Full-Stack Software Developer track I was pursuing but for a duration of two years; furthermore the curriculum was so thinly spread at two classes a week and two hours per class. It wasn’t immersive at all, which was important for me, an immersive program; something that’d totally envelope and occupy me. She went on to explain that this(Univelcity) was for six months and offered practically everything I wanted.
Interesting…
So, I looked up Univelcity and the programs they offered; in particular, the Full-Stack track. What I found was hugely motivating, the track was for six months, as stated earlier and entailed trainings in Product Design, Frontend Development, Backend Development and Data Science; split into two parts(three months each) with a two week break, classes four(4) times a week — Monday through Thursdays. Fridays; for personal study and projects — at six(6) hours a day including an hour lunch break. Oh! And lunch is provided. Admittedly, that wasn’t a sweetener I expected but I’m happy to have enjoyed that on my first day and everyday since.
Univelcity
We help young Nigerians build a career in tech- through our immersive training in Coding, Data Science With Python, Product Design, Frontend, Backend -Founder, Mr. Joseph Agunbiade
I started my journey at Univelcity on the 24th of May and thus far, it’s been a nurturing and engaging ride. I completed the first part of my program; Product Design and Frontend Development three weeks ago, building and designing a host of projects along the way. I’m currently building Capstone Projects for certification on both, and also just this week began the second phase of the program; Data Science with Python, Backend Development with Python and Django.
Univelcity; offers a host of programs for various tuition fees, a brilliant learning environment and boasts a fine array of tutors., a few of whom I’ve had the privilege to learn from in recent months; Mr. Micheal Eze and Mr. Kola Olagoke instructed and guided me through an intensive first three months of training. I look forward to the end of my time here with great determination and anticipation for what lies ahead.
To new challenges…
Whatever lies ahead in the remainder of the year, one thing’s for sure; It will be exciting and I’ll approach it with the same glee and enthusiasm with which I’ve approached my “Goal” and objectives at Univelcity. My mom’s fond of saying; “it’s not how far, it’s how well”. 2021 started out awful but it’s been very well since. Fingers crossed it ends on a superb note with a huge ‘W’.
Thank you for reading. I wish you a very exciting year’s end.
Univelcity, Blessing Fashola, Micheal Ezeoda, Google Developers, Figma, Python, Okechukwu Nwoko, Joseph Jones Agunbiade, Kola Olagoke.
