Ultimately I would like to work projects that are meaningful to me and are in line with my values and ethics. I am particularly passionate about health and well-being, environmentalism, and equality. I would like to find work where my varied work experiences and skills are valued and where I feel a sense of belonging. I am also wanting a career that can fit around my lifestyle and where I can work part-time due to health issues.
Managing the workload with chronic health issues and the symptoms that may affect my participation. Being able to ask for help when I need it because I'm not able to keep on top of things.
I would like to work on my:
I am looking forward to being in a learning environment and drawing on the knowledge and experience of my peers and facilitators. I felt quite isolated during Foundations as I was overseas for most of the time and was not able to ask for help face-to-face. Being around others who are in the same position and having the same experiences as me will make it easier for me to ask for help.
The order in which I will seek help in a timely way:
I will also need to focus on my health and well-being in order to learn and work effectively with others. This means making sure that I sleep well, maintain a healthy diet, exercise, and get plenty of rest so that I can manage the workload and my health. I am particularly aware that this Bootcamp will be very intense and I therefore need to make enough time in the week to look after myself and do the things that keep me well.
A lot of the reasons I am changing careers is because of the stage that I am in life – my partner and I are wanting to start a family next year so I'm wanting to find work that can fit around children, where I can work part-time and remotely from home. I have a background working as an Occupational Therapist so I'm very interested in web accessibility and health-based applications. How can we use technology to increase our well-being and improve our lives? Ultimately, I would like to be working on projects that do this.
I would like to work on my:
Strengths – I persevere and I'm very hard-working and reliable, which makes me a good team-player.
Limitations – perfectionism (spending too much time trying to make things right), imposter syndrome (feeling like I don't belong), not backing myself and skills enough, always feeling that I don't know enough.
To maintain my health and wellbeing in order to learn and work effectively with others, I will do my best to sleep well, exercise, and maintaining a healthy diet. I will work on my perfectionist tendencies and try to remember that it's about learning, rather than getting everything perfect and 'right'. I will be dependable and reliable when working in a team by sticking to time frames, practicing good communication, respecting others, and giving and receiving critical feedback in a positive way. I will do my best to stand up for myself and other learners and make those responsible for helping us learn accountable for ensuring that we're developing the right skills to become developers.
The order:
It will be important for me to set time limits as well as practice seeking help from others, which I find very difficult to do. This way I'll be using my time more effectively and won't be working in isolation and stressing myself out.
I will be overseas from the 13th May – 12th July. I knew this trip was coming up so I specifically chose to do Foundations over 15 weeks. It will be difficult for me to enjoy myself when I know I also have study on my mind, but I have to remember to enjoy the present and live in the moment and remember that the experiences I'm having I don't get to have every day. I will have to juggle travel, catching up with people, going to events, and study. As well, I will have to find appropriate places to study as I will be working in different environments every few days that may not be conducive. Once I am overseas it will be easier to assess how to best study – whether it's doing a couple of hours a day every day or blocking out whole days that are dedicated to study.