My TIIDELab Experience 1.0 (First Month)
Since when I was a 10-year-old boy, I have always been curious about how the internet works, and mostly our website and desktop application software are built. I started then to Google search on how websites are built. That’s when I discovered the Markup language, HTML. I tried to learn it, but due to my young age and limited access to the right resources and computers, I was not able to fully learn it. Then I discovered web builders like Wapka and Xtgem. I tried to use it to achieve my dream of building my first website. Finally, I built my first website using Wapka, but I didn’t build it from scratch. It was built with different source code I scrapped from different websites. I was not satisfied so I continued my quest to learn how to build a website. I discovered WordPress and I pretty got hang of it. I built WordPress websites mostly using themes and plugins. 10 years have passed, still, I can’t build a website from scratch! What a waste of time! 10 good years!
I discovered TIIDELab Initiative fellowship from a WhatsApp group. I followed the link and read what they offer which is free 5 months of intensive training on either Frontend and Backend Web Development. I told myself that this is exactly what I needed to achieve my long-term dream. I applied and fortunately for me, I scaled through the test and interview process; I am now a proud fellow of TIIDELab Initiate. I have spent a month in the TIIDELab fellowship and my experience and expectations are overboard.
My first day at TIIDELab was fulfilling. The morning class that day was held via Zoom. Our Instructor that day, Mr. Adepoju taught about Algorithm and Data Structure. It is the basis of Computer Science. He explained Big O Notation to Us and why it is very important. I realize that day that Developing Web application is not about just coding but you need to consider the time and space complexities. After the class, we were sent self-learning materials and the recording of the class to learn more about the topic for the day. The self-learning session ended my 3 pm. We started the peer-learning session. I love this session so much because you can discuss what you have learnt for the day with other fellows and also get to learn from them. It was a great learning experience. The first day left a good impression and my commitment to the fellowship greatly accelerated.
Every day at TIIDELab Fellowship is an exciting one for me. At TIIDELab, Soft skills like communication, negotiation, leadership, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills are being taught. Every Friday is the physical meet-up day. We are not only being taught the soft skills, we apply it at the meetup by participating in different challenges and games. It is fun and brain tasking.
Different experts from various fields do come on Fridays to educate us on the importance of soft skills and how to stand out from the crowd.
During the Second week, we started the technical aspect of our training. We were taught Advanced HTML and CSS. I know a bit of it before, but the lecture and the self-learning materials made everything clearer to me. Thanks to our instructor Mr. Solomon, he broke everything into bits. Before we finished learning Advanced HTML and CSS, all fellows were given a task to build their portfolio website and deploy it to the internet using Netlify. Building my portfolio website was tasking and not an easy feat, but with the application of advanced HTML and CSS, I was able to build it.
Check it out here: https://rasheedportfolio.netlify.app/
We were given some guidelines and the industry-standard to follow while building our portfolio. We didn’t just build the portfolio; we presented the portfolio site to the TIIDELab team for evaluation and criticism.
Every weekend, there is a Dairy Session with TIIDELab Programme Coordinator in the person of Mr. Shamsudeeen Aderoju aka Big Brother of TIIDELab House. During the Dairy session, we have a conversation about how we are faring and the challenges encountered, and fellows can give suggestions to improve their situations.
During my third week in the house, we are grouped into teams. The name of my team is Team Infinity, and we are 6 on the team. Each team was given a project to build. My team’s project is to build a Web Chat Application. Before we began work on my team’s project, we are taught how to write a System Requirement Document (SRS) and Functional Requirement Document (FRD). I realized before embarking on any software project it is important to outline the problem statement, functionality, use case scenario, and sequence diagram of the application. The third week was challenging because all members of my team are very busy working on the SRS document and developing the User Interface of our Chat App. I have never worked in a team before, I learnt a lot from our team activities. We finally finished our task and my team did fantastically well.
The past 1 month at TIIDELab was a period of learning, unlearning, and relearning for me. I was opportune to meet with great minds and have built relationships with other fellows so far. Thanks to the TIIDELab team and their sponsors for making my first month at TIIDELab fellowship memorable for me. I will forever be grateful.
