Generasi Gigih #FinalReflection

And.. we arrived at the final point of Generasi Gigih Intermediate Phase. The technical class for this phase is finally over. It was such a fun and challenging journey. Two months is not a short time for me, there were many insights, knowledge, and experience I got in this phase. I wish I can continue to the next phase but up to this point I am already very grateful for everything I had in Generasi Gigih.

Everyone was celebrating their own biggest win in Generasi Gigih

My final technical in this phase. I will really miss this 5pm-8pm, class. 

My progress so far in backend engineering...

8 weeks ago I was a graduate of Informatics.. and I still am. I have learned about programming in college, but this class is different. Because I only have a little experience in working as a backend engineer, the "best practice of something" is always been my question.  I am grateful that I got the chance to ask any questions to the mentors.  

I did know the basic theory of programming, like algorithm and data structure, object-oriented programming. I also have learned some programming languages such as Java and Python. I have made a simple website and API before too. I did everything as my college assignments or personal project. But I never evaluated the code that I made. 

After Genereasi Gigih, I reflect on all the codes that I made and wonder how to make them better. This program encourages me not to simply just make lines of code but we have also put our minds and heart into writing those codes. Even though I have learned to program, I also still learned many things and I got the chance to re-learn again. I learn about Ruby and Sinatra, deployment, CI/CD, The principles of clean code, microservice, in a nutshell, unit testing and TDD, refactoring, and many more. Actually, I was still unsure about my career path before. I like to explore anything such as UI UX, front-end engineering. But backend engineering has always been making me curious. It turned out that I love backend engineering more after I attended the Generasi Gigih class. I'll be exploring a lot more on backend engineering in the future. 

Skills I have developed in these 8 weeks...

As you know, Generasi Gigih provides me with various classes from technical class, English class, to soft-skill class. From all those classes, I learn how to communicate better, how to present your idea clearly, and how to respect each other. I also start to practice more on how to develop critical thinking.

" Make it work, then make it better "

The mentors in technical class always said we can focus on making a code work first then make it better in terms of clean code and design. I used to make my codes only work and now I have been developing skills on how to make them better. The technical class has given me eye-opening insights into clean code and code design. Now I also have understood more about the basics of testing. From my final project, I learn how to deploy my code to GCP server. I got many basic things from technical class as a provision for me to explore more. I still need to work more on applying everything that I have learned especially in deploying and CI/CD, get used to working in a team using git, designing better codes, and enrich myself with the various syntax of programming languages. And I also have to develop my logical thinking when writing codes by practicing problem-solving quizzes. I have developed many skills in Gigih but I also still need to develop much more skills in the future.

Besides technical skills, I also developed my English skill here. Thanks Generasi Gigih x CAKAP! I learned so much here. Thanks to the teacher who always encouraged me to speak in English and patiently corrected me when I had a mistake. I don't know how much I am developed in English because I haven't taken any tests to prove my skill but I am now much more confident in speaking English. By joining the free class of Cakap Club almost every day, taking English Class every Tuesday and Thursday with Cakap, speaking and learning technical skills in English every Friday, and writing this weekly reflection in English really increases my confidence. I know I am still having mistakes in English but I am still confident because I know I am learning. All of those English activities also push me to have my own English Learning programs because I want to get better. Speaking and writing in English have never been easy things to do for me, so I push myself a lot doing them. 

Not only practical skills, Generasi Gigih also provides me an Individual Development Plan mentoring and Career Readiness class. I learn how to design my life so I can work step by step to achieve my goals. Thanks to Kak Hera who shared many insights about creating an IDP. The career readiness class also taught me so many things start from how to have good personal branding, preparing for interviews, to work ethics in tech industries. That would be very useful for my future career. Thanks XLFL x Generasi Gigih!

Good habits I learn from Generasi Gigih...

1. Learn, learn, and learn more

"Stay foolish, stay hungry". I built this habit start from having the curiosity about unclear or unspoken things in class. I took note of everything I learn so I would know what I've learned and what I have to learn more. The mentors also always gave me other reference links to learning sources. I kept them all and read them sometimes or explore the related topics by myself.  They made me realize no matter how good they are, they always learn something new. 

2. Speaking/writing/reading in English

These are habits that I have never done in my life. But, seeing my friends are trying to speak English as best as they could, made me realize that I have to do that if I want to get better at English. I do daily reflection by myself in English, reading articles, and keep my own vocab.  It's been a month since I started all of them. I hope I can still be consistent in the future. By the way I also love writing this weekly reflection. I love blogging but I rarely spare my time for it. So thanks to Generasi Gigih who awakened my passion for blogging again.

3. Communicate

I always try to ask questions if I have something in my mind, and also speak my mind out when I am given chance to speak. This Generasi Gigih really taught me not to keep everything in my own mind but we have to speak our mind out. 

My confidence...

"In percentage, measure how your learning process in Generasi Gigih has improved your chance to be hired or employed in your aspired field?"

Let's say we need 100% to be hired in backend engineering. I think I have 68% now, 48% from my basic knowledge in college, and 20% from Generasi Gigih. The rest 33% is for me to build a good portfolio, CV, to develop my problem-solving skills, communication skills and improve my knowledge in this field. My college taught me so many things and I also had a part-time before in my college. But Generasi Gigih also plays important role in this thing.  I got insights from full-time employees' points of view, got tips and tricks for pursuing a career, learn to speak and write in English, build a new project from the final project, learn testing, clean code, and many more that will be useful for backend engineering.

A letter to myself...

Dear myself, you've worked hard this time. You finished your final project, did all the assignments and attended all the classes while you still have a thesis to finish. You are not a confident person but you have tried hard to give everything you can do and believe in yourself. You're still not a great programmer (yet), but this time you don't let that thought beat you. This time you really enjoyed the process and believe in all the things you've gone through. I know you can do so much better but you already did a good job. I am proud of you. Let's keep your enthusiasm and increase your confidence for your future career. I know you'll be a good backend engineer in the future. Aamiin.