My journey as a July 2019 pisciner and September 2019 cadet.
42 Silicon Valley is a nontraditional, tuition-free computer science program that teaches you how to code using project-based learning and peer-learning. Its innovative learning model is geared toward launching tech enthusiasts into the field of engineering, coding, and programming. The school focuses not only on building a solid foundation in computer science but also expose students to a software engineering lifestyle. You learn how to code, how to solve problems, and how to deal with peers who are from different backgrounds.
As part of the admissions process to offically become a "cadet," you have to compete in a 1-month intensive bootcamp learning C and Git. This immersive experience in computer science will launch you in the world of programming with little-no background experience in coding. The program judges you acceptance based on your scores, your motivation, your willpower, and your ability to collaborate with others in the work setting.
After graduating from the C Piscine and receiving acceptance, you are officially a cadet and can specialize in numerous tracks, such as AI, security, and app development. Your lifestyle during this time is more flexible and parallels the lifestyle of a software engineer at a tech company. You are given freedom but also must meet some deadlines. The education itself is still project-based and there is no teachers--only you, Google, man, and your peers.
After submitting the projects to Vogsphere (the cloud), an auto-grader, called Moulinette, evaluates your code to see if it passes all her test cases. In addition, your peers will also grade your project based on the code, its functionality, and whether or not you can explain the code. Moulinette's opinons matter more than your peers. She is strict in terms of grading. Once you fail one exercise for the day in the Piscine, you fail the rest of the exercises. As a cadet, the grading system is still strict but you can attempt a project multiple times. In addition, you no longer have to submit things by 11:42 pm every night.
To download/clone the the repository, in your terminal, type:
git clone https://github.com/VictoriaNguyenMD/42_Silicon_Valley.git
My Journey at 42 Silicon Valley as a Non-CS Major (Blog)
To read the articles for free, click the links below:
- Cadet: Day 1, Orientation (9/16/19
- Cadet: Day 2, Exam #1 (9/17/19)
- Cadet: Day 3, GitHub Pages (9/18/19)
- Cadet: Day 4, Last Essays (9/19/19)
- Cadet: Day 5, Website (9/20/19)
- Cadet: Day 6, GDG DevFest (9/21/19)
- Cadet: Day 7, LinkedIn (9/22/19)
- Cadet: Day 8, Women in Tech (9/22/19)
- Cadet: Day 9 Exam #2 (9/24/2019)
- Cadet: Day 10 Comments (9/25/2019)
- Cadet: Day 11 Stanford (9/26/2019)