A few days ago I was opportune to attend a Question and Answer session courtesy of Meghee with Mr. Gino Osahon, a developer evangelist and one who is passionate about community growth. After the session, I had a stronger conviction to share my experience with She Code Africa and how being part of the community has been a great catalyst for my growth in Tech.
Introduction
She Code Africa is a non-profit organization focused on celebrating and empowering young Girls and Women in Technology across Africa.
At She Code Africa, we are particularly passionate about the growth of women in technology across Africa and designed the 3-months mentorship program to serve as an intensive learning program where we pair experienced individuals (mentors) from a range of tech fields with individuals who are willing & looking to grow their technical and soft skills (mentees).
- She Code Africa
How it all started
I joined the Slack community in January 2020 after I stumbled on the cohort 1 mentoring application but unfortunately the application had closed and I was unable to apply. I felt sad but after going through the application requirements and process, I thought to myself to keep an eye out for the next cohort and while at that, get prepared to meet up the requirements.
I started self-learning, took up a Python course on Codecademy where I learnt the basics. In May 2020, the application for the 2nd cohort was out and it was the perfect timing for me as a result of the lockdown caused by the Pandemic, I had ample time. I worked on a technical assessment here and filled out the application form. Next was an interview and finally, I was accepted into the program.
First Month – Excitement! 💃
I was thrilled to be among other learners and like minds and we were paired with an exceptional mentor, Owolabi Oluwarotimi, who was ever ready to attend to us and explain seemingly difficult concepts in the simplest way possible. In all honesty, I had never come across a more dedicated individual, he always kept to our meeting schedule, very approachable and he was just amazing. I also wrote my first article here as this was part of the program requirements, with time I noticed I had discovered a new hobby because I love writing and it was a great way to document my learning.
2nd Month – Mixed feelings! 😣😤
In the second month, things started getting more technical as we began working towards creating our final project and I also got entangled with other activities. I was confused a lot of times but one of the benefits of peer learning is that you get to collaborate with others and learn from different perspectives, so yeah! I found my feet.
3rd Month – Wrap up! 🎁🎁🎁
At this time, we had come a long way and putting up final touches on our individual projects. I worked on a Portfolio site powered by Django.
Take home from the program
- Met amazing women in Tech through peer learning.
- Soft skills development – We had monthly training on soft skills and practiced others through collaboration, teamwork, problem-solving, etc.
- Started a blog
- Built a Portfolio site
- It’s never too late or too early to begin, just start!
It was indeed a splendid experience, one that I cannot exactly quantify.
A special appreciation goes to Ada Nduka Oyom, the founder of She Code Africa for this great initiative, the internal team at the organization for continuous innovations and support to young girls and Women in Tech, to my mentor for all the coaching and support, my super-duper hype woman @Torie and @Amara for all the encouragement.
I am a better developer today and Congratulations to myself and fellow mentees for scaling through despite the hurdles.
Thank you for reading about my She Code story, learning never ends!