Le Wagon

LeWagon Batch #86 - Lisbon Summer 2017

I’m an ex-strategy consultant and executive in the telecom industry on a sabbatical break from work. In my work experience I have regularly dabbled with different kinds of coding and with each experience it validated the hypothesis that coding can be a multiplier in one’s productivity. My goals for the course were to reinforce what I already knew (first few weeks) and add on with new skills to create an MVP end-to-end (rest of the course). 

First, the course runners “Drivers” in Lisbon are very good. Shannon is a superstar. With a lot of positive energy, she gave LeWagon a real sense of community. From the first conf. call to the final goodbyes, Shannon brought a certain thoughtfulness, competency and passion to the LeWagon Lisbon experience. Head instructor Carlos is an expert in some areas but also a true all rounder, he knows all the key areas to a sufficient level to teach any class in this syllabus. Further, he isn't afraid to say "I don't know" if he doesn't know the answer and roll up his sleeves along with us in searching for the answer. A very strong quality. Carlos was invaluable, especially in the final weeks. He showed a real dedication to the cohort projects’ success.

Second, the course is well structured and the material is excellent. LeWagon must balance between being accessible to people with no coding knowledge and also people with CS backgrounds that want to get into web development. Not easy. They manage this brilliantly by gearing the course toward the former and handle the latter scenario with many advanced, challenging optional exercises. The teachers are always monitoring your progress throughout the day through their student dashboard and are ready to direct you further if you complete the optionals. 

Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect. After all is said and done I am really glad I did the program. It reinforced what I already new, taught me countless new things and allowed me and the team we formed to develop something that was technically challenging for us and something that we are now proud of (briefcases.io). I think I underestimated what could be done in 9 days before the course. Very happy with the course on the whole. I would recommend LeWagon Lisbon wholeheartedly and unconditionally.

Having spent 8 years in international education, I felt I was ready for a change. All I knew is that I wanted to either be self employed or work for a start up. So learning to code seemed like a good way to go.

I chose to do Le Wagon’s bootcamp in London, and exactly as their marketing suggests - It changed my life. Before starting this course I had not written a single line of code. Since finishing, I have built applications and websites for a number of clients and now decided to take on a full time position as a Back End Engineer at a very promising and well funded start up.

The curriculum is broad, and takes you from learning the basics of Ruby all the way through to shipping your own MVP. The field of web development is vast and ever changing, and the most important thing Le Wagon’s course structure gives you is the ability to efficiently and effectively continue learning.

Along with all of this, there is a very special culture at Le Wagon and it creates an exceptional and unique learning environment.

  After some struggle with my studies and a one year trip in Australia, I wanted to start my own business in the digital industry but didn’t know where to start. I had an idea but not the skills to fulfill it, and I’ve realized that developers are very expansive and very hard to communicate with when you are not in the game. Then I’ve discovered Le Wagon. In 2 months i’ve learned  how to build  websites: OOP programming, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and much more. Le Wagon gave me a better understanding of the digital industry. The teaching methods are amazing, we have access to a web app that provide all the courses and exercises so we can work 24/7 if we want to. Working days are divided in three parts: theory course in the morning with great teachers, exercises in the afternoon and a good cold beer all together at the end. Finally the most important thing that Le Wagon taught me is learning how to learn.  I am now teaching myself Swift, a programming language for IOS app, in order to build my own product.

Change your life: learn to code.
Le Wagon brings technical skills to creative people.

My name is Albert Montolio, spaniard, 30 years old, passionate of sports. That was an easy introduction. Actually I’d like to present myself as a person who likes to wake up early. Of course! There are so many beautiful things to do during the day. Now after LeWagon, even more.

A very short story about me: I studied mechanical engineering in Barcelona and I wound up working in Munich for a big automotive company. I liked a lot my job, it was in a research department, with cutting-edge technology. A dream-job. But after some years, the initial magic was fading away. Too easy, always the same, not challenging, who knows.

I was in a point in my life, where I was spending a lot of time talking about new technologies, apps, personal projects etc. The most common phrases at that time were: “ I have this idea, but I can not code”, “I don’t know any programmer”, “ I have an idea that I would love to do but I don’t have the time”, “I’ve tried to learn PHP on my own, but i’m getting stack and frustrated”, “it would be awesome to…”, etc. etc. etc. sounds familiar?

After talking, talking and talking, one day I decided to do what I really love. I was tired of not doing something. I decided to get into action. I decided to give me the skill of coding. Why? Because I want to create. I want to help people. I want to improve the world. I don’t care how and I don’t care if I succeed. I just want to do it.

At the beginning, coding was just a game of rules, given by the LeWagon teachers. If you write “redirect_to” and you pass the appropriate instance, the controller will send you to the appropriate view of your MVC. Ok. Got it. But following the rules was not the point of the game of coding. Behind these apparently insignificantly boring rules, the power of creating something marvelous was hidden. These lines of code, put it together in a harmonic way, could turn out into a real product that can help other people. That was amazing.

After the course, I am coding for my company web-based software, automating processes and making the day easier and nicer to a lot of employees. 10 fingers, 1 brain, a lot of passion and a lot of imagination. But that’s not even the best. 

Side-projects allow you to build what you’ve been dreaming your whole life. There are no excuses anymore. If you think it, if you want it. You code it. Just type and let it flow.

Last but not least, I can not end this personal summary without some words for the students and the teachers. Students with a lot of ideas, highly motivated. You go for a lunch with them, you come back to classes, and you are a wiser man. Regarding the teachers, they are not only very well prepared. The human level is out of charts. 

Everything that I wrote, are just words. Maybe exaggerated. Maybe distorted. Who cares, now we are coders, and we don’t need to talk about what we did or what we want to do. 

We code it. Period.

Albert

Follow me in www.github.com/albertmontolio

When I heard about Le Wagon Lyon I had been coding for a few months on basic iOS apps. Coding was almost a random choice at first. I needed to learn something new and a friend of mine offered me to teach how to code. At some point I got really bored with my former job and more and more interested in coding. I decided to quit. But I wasn’t ready to apply for a job as a developer and that’s when Le Wagon started the bootcamp in Lyon.

I was looking for a quick and intense training that would hopefully allow me to find a job in a start-up as a developer. I have been immediately attracted to Le Wagon bootcamp when I read about it on the website. As soon as I got on the phone with Etienne, one of the drivers in Lyon, I knew this was a perfect fit for me. I couldn’t wait to begin.

It’s been 9 weeks really motivating to say the least. Every day I was excited about getting to work on the exercises, and it was sometime hard to get off the computer to get a lunch. In the last two weeks, we developed ‘We Dress Fair’ a platform to find in one click clothes that fit your ethic. It was really stimulating to learn how to work with a team of developers and how to stay organized to get the best project possible out of us.

A few weeks after Le Wagon, I found a job in Optimiz.me as a Full-Stack Web Developer surrounded by a great team. I am learning NodeJS. It has been hard at the beginning but the bootcamp gave me the knowledge and the mindset necessaries to get started quickly. I am learning new things and I get better everyday. I finally wake up every morning happy to go to work.

After years studying marketing and e-commerce, I did one last internship. It made me notice the gap that too often exists between marketing and IT departments, even if they're inter-dependent. This professional experience decided me to learn how to code. At first, I just wanted to understand how it worked. But it motivated me to the point of joining Le Wagon batch #52 in Lyon, not without some pressure as I was total novice!

Best decision ever. I loved the 9-intensive weeks at Le Wagon, I learnt more there than in my entire Bachelor thanks to lovely and competent teachers Nicolas, Cecile, and obviously Kevin, and the drivers Mathieu and Etienne. Coding is a philosophy with principles and advantages: honesty, productivity, team spirit. Coding's also an eternal headache, but it keeps you excited and always more motivated to build great products!

Spending 9 weeks with the 13 incredible people of my batch was amazing, and I found a job thanks to one of our guest teacher in the month following the bootcamp! I work now at Meal Canteen as a fullstack web developer in Ruby on Rails, along with Baptiste Perrin (also from batch #52).

Meal Canteen is a great startup based in Saint-Etienne fighting against food waste where we're both lucky enough to work with seniors developers there and learn new things everyday. I would never been here without my experience at Le Wagon in Lyon!

After short studies (level A in sales and marketing), I worked for a couple of years in call centers (health insurances, Pôle Emploi…) and as an operator-receptionist. But that was not for me. I gave up everything and started thinking about a new life. It's never too late to change your carrier, proof is I just turned 36!

I wanted to become a web developer. Well, I had this in mind for some time but I didn't dare to really do it, and I didn't know how to start… I first took online courses on HTML and CSS, I also tried another bootcamp but I wasn't satisfied and didn't feel strong enough afterwards.

As someone who never gives up and keep trying until I succeed, I applied to Le Wagon and joined the batch #52 in Lyon in January 2017. I got convinced by alumni reviews and already had a glimpse of their great teaching skills with Sébastien and Boris videos on Youtube.

I now believe it was one of the best decisions I made in my life, and it was worth all the sacrifices during the 9 weeks. Kevin (the lead teacher), Etienne & Mathieu (the drivers) and everyone was wonderful, the courses & materiel were very qualitative. Everything was just better than I expected!

During batch #52, our drivers organised us some interesting talks with recruitment agencies, developers, entrepreneurs every week. It was very helpful for my job hunting!

Every batch ends up with 3 weeks dedicated to projets. We work in teams on one Airbnb-like project for a week and on OUR own final projects for two weeks. My mates and I have built 'Easy Trip', a platform to help backpackers create trips together. We had a great experience together thanks to the great good mindset of each team member! And when the batch ended, we all gathered at my place for a week to keep on pushing the project further and learn new skills!

And the intensive work during and after the bootcamp has now paid! I'm about to start my very first job (and permanent contract) as a Ruby on Rails fullstack web-developer at Keycoopt, a startup promoting cooptation as the best way to quickly find the right candidate for a job! I can say truly Le Wagon changed my life, I finally feel confident and would recommend it to anyone.

Before joining Le Wagon, I have been working as a mechanical engineer for more than 5 years and have accumulated abundant experience in the industry. However, I have always harbored great zest for programing and software engineering. So for me, the hardest part about learning to code from scratch is whether I’m willing to give up everything I’ve built up for myself in my previous field to embrace something completely new and challenging.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. To start with, I was uncertain about my potential performance in coding due to my limited understanding of IT industry. And consulting the internet and reading online answers only made it more confusing for me, as those are all other people’s experience and opinions and each person varies in terms of ability. Age was my other concern since compared to other students I’m considered a late beginner. Extra effort is a must in order to bridge the gap between me and those who started in college. But in the end, I followed my heart to pursue what I’m really interested in- coding, and everything else matters less.

I didn’t hesitate at all to choose Le Wagon because based on my research, it is probably the best coding bootcamp available in China. My later satisfying experience in every aspect proved me right. Mentors here are experts with rich industrial experience, but except for the professional knowledge they delivered, the skill that we gained in learning new things is even more precious. I enjoyed very much the company and help of other fellow students as well. Every day was quite fulfilling when we immerse ourselves in numerous practices for better application of the theoretical knowledge.

We formed a team of 4 during the final 2 weeks to work on projects and I was in charge of the back-end development. Our team delivered an awesome social app in form of mini program since mobile app attracts more traffic nowadays compared to traditional websites. It was a great challenge but being able to overcome difficulties as a team and build up our own app is a fantastic feeling!

I didn't start job searching immediately after the camp but instead continued to strengthen all the skills I learned with the help from our mentors. Most of the camp graduates would choose to learn something new but for me reviewing has greater significance since it enables me to form a more comprehensive and productive knowledge framework. I feel very lucky to have received an offer from ALO7 to become a junior Ruby engineer 3 weeks after leaving Le Wagon. Despite many challenges ahead, It’s a great start!

Looking back at the 2 months spent at Le Wagon, coding apart, the strong bonding I harvested with mentors and students is to cherish for a lifetime. Hope Le Wagon will continue to do a great job in leading more people into the wonderland of coding!

参加Le Wagon之前我是一个有着多年工作经验的机械工程师，我在我工作的领域已经有了较丰富的经验。但是我一直对编程和软件工程怀有很大的兴趣，所以对于我来说学习编程最大的困难在于你是否可以放弃以前其它领域的相关经验，来学习一个完全新的事情。

做出这个决定对我来说其实并没有那么容易. 首先由于对这个领域并不是很了解，我不确定自己是否能够在这一领域做的很出色。 有的时候光看网络上的相关提问反尔会使自己越来越迷惑，因为那些都是别人的想法，而每个人的能力都是不一样的。 其次我最担心的是我的年龄， 因为相较于其它的学习者，我显然已经晚起步了好多年，大部分的编程人员从大学时期就已经开始学习编程， 而我显然需要付出更多的努力来缩小这些差距。 但是最后我选择听从我内心的想法， 做自己感兴趣的东西，其它的都是次要的。

选择Le Wagon对我来说其实并没有那么困难，因为这或许是在中国能选择的最好的编程训练营了。而事实也证明了它并没有辜负我的选择，每一个环节做的都很棒。首先导师们都是有着丰富的行业经验的专家， 这一点很重要，他们不光能教授专业的知识，更重要的是教授如何学习新东西的能力及技巧。 同时我们的每一个学员都很棒，大家都非常擅于学习并且互相帮助。 我们每天都会做大量的练习来帮助我们掌握当天教授的知识，这让我们很容易沉浸其中， 每一天都过得非常的充实。

最后的两周是我们完成最终作品的时间， 我们是一个四人的小组，而我主要负责后端的工作。我们选择制作一个社交应用，并且是以微信小程序的形式来呈现， 这让我们感觉很酷， 因为相比较传统的网站， 如今手机端的应用显然更加的受欢迎， 而我们通过两个月的学习可以亲手制作一个自己的手机应用， 这种成就感真的是太棒了。 虽然制做应用的过程充満了挑战， 但大家都异常的努力，一起克服着每一个困难， 我为我们每一个都感到骄傲！

训练营结束后， 我并没有立即去寻找合适的工作， 而是在导师的指导下继续强化之前所学到的东西。 大部分的人在训练营结束后可能会选择学习一些新的知识，  但对于我来说回过头去复习之前所学到的知识却是非常重要的，这一过程帮助我梳理了之前不太明白的知识， 也强化了整个编程的基础知识， 可以说对于之前的所学有了一个全新的理解。 幸运的是，在训练营结束后的第三周， 我得到爱乐奇(ALO7)的工作offer， 成为了一名初级的Ruby工程师。 虽然还有很多的挑战等待着我， 但这却也是一个不错的开始！

回首我们这两个月的训练营时光， 除了收获到的知识以外， 更重要的是收获到了学员和导师之间的友情， 这对我来说是弥足珍贵的， 希望这份友谊可以永远的保持下去。 真心希望Le Wagon可以越办越好， 可以让更多的人进入编程的世界， 并从中受益！

My name is Arbi Velaj, I am an economics graduate and I did my masters at Bocconi University, in Milan. During my academic path I slowly started to realize that what I was doing was not fitting my intellectual needs, so I began to look for something different.

At first, I was considering the idea of doing a bachelor in computer science, but then I heard about Le Wagon in Barcelona. I worked to save enough for the course fee and then applied for the batch, and I managed to get through the selection process. I had very high expectations, and I am very glad to say that what I got exceeded those expectations. 

In two full-immersion months you can learn not only to code, but also to think as a developer. Le Wagon gives you all the tools and skills necessary to begin learning independently everything related to programming, and its approach prepares you for the challenges of learning in a very dynamic environment.

Eventually, one of the aspects that unexpectedly surprised me the most was the final project: during the last two weeks of the bootcamp you start a group project with which you will make your idea become reality. It is incredible that in two months you become able to create something valuable and to experience the start up environment and journey from the very beginning!

Le Wagon's 9-Week Web Development Bootcamp was the most fun I've ever had learning anything ever. After 9 weeks, I can call myself a fullstack developer with knowledge of Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, jQuery, SQL, ActiveRecord, GitHub, Heroku etc etc. If you don't know what any of these words mean, neither did I when I first started the course! And certainly during the first two weeks, it seemed like I wouldn't ever know what they meant but through super capable teachers and teaching assistants, through trusting the constantly improving syllabus and the exercises and most importantly, through believing in yourself, there will come a day during this course when it all starts to make sense!

And that's when the fun will start! For me, after that point, I couldn't wait for the lectures to finish so I could actually start coding (#nerdalert). I couldn't wait to raise more tickets (equivalent of raising your hand) to just absorb as much as I could from the teachers/TAs. When we got to project week, our group was just chill party vibes and we maked dis - www.frida.studio.

The best part about this whole thing is that even after the bootcamp is over, after you've become fullstack and after you've made permanent friendships, you will have the support of the Le Wagon global community (consisting of teachers and alumni) willing to help you with any issues you run into. I'd say that's a good investment!

Le Wagon, Paris

I already had basic programming skills but wanted to go a step further and learn product-oriented and startup-pragmatic coding !

A few months after my bootcamp's end, I have built my product MVP and am confident in my skills to further develop the product with the junior dev team we are hiring.

I thank Le Wagon for that. Not only for the quality of the academic training but for everything that is around it and really makes the difference:
- The project / startup oriented mindset
- The dedicated and fun team
- The meetups
- The online resources (available even after the bootcamp and very useful)

In addition to that, the community is awesome and supportive. For instance, when I'm struggling on some technical choices, a message on the slack "help channel" always receives expert and constructive answers.

Le Wagon is clearly among the best training experiences I had. I totally recommend this training:
- for entrepreneurs who want to learn to understand and talk to their dev team
- or for freelancers / entrepreneurs who want to develop strong full-stack skills