Its time to talk about the green monster.
Not the one that just gives problems to professional baseball players. I'm talking about the one that gives problems to all of us at some point in our lives.
Envy.
In bootcamp you are not immune to the green monster. You might feel a little bit jealous that your classmates are getting praise for correct answers in class. You might feel envious that others are getting attention from recruiters, or that someone else got a job offer and you didn't. Or even something as innocuous as the instructor getting along well with one of your classmates.
First, its important to understand that your feelings are coming from a place of vulnerability. You are learning a difficult subject, and learning it at rapid speed. Its very likely that you aren't completely understanding everything and that is perfectly normal. But it can raise some self-doubts about how much you are understanding and how well you are progressing. And its those self-doubts that feed the green monster and can even sabotage your progress through the class
Don't feed the beast!
The best advice is to focus on your own development. Everyone has a unique set of circumstances FOR EVERYTHING that happens to them over the course of a bootcamp. That includes who they meet, how they learn, and everything in between. Stay focused on the reasons you are in the bootcamp in the first place and stick to your plan. You've got so much going on in your head with studies that the last thing you need are more intrusive thoughts that serve no positive purpose at all.
And be happy for your classmates when things go good for them. Celebrate their victories and be there when they need help. Just like in baseball, everyone hits and everyone strikes out at some point. Don't forget you are all on the same team.
I bring it up because the dynamic of being in bootcamp reminds me a lot of my high school days. I was really competitive about my grades and used to feel down when my friends got into the colleges that I didn't.
If this advice doesn't apply to you, no worries. It probably applies to someone in your class. Have a little empathy for them.
We are on our 8th week of class with only one more assignment before we start our capstone project. My Craigslist-clone website is, just like me, slightly dysfunctional and awkward at times. But this project was the result of a weekend of overtime studying sessions where I put in extra hours at campus with my classmates. And it was really fun. Its not going to get a perfect score, as far as homework goes, but it was a great learning experience and that's what really counts.
