2019: My Learning Journey

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” ―Abigail Adams.

The past year marked my entry into the Tech Space, and so far the experience has been nostalgic, i have recorded lots of progress both in self-development, finance and personal growth.

Here are some of my highlights from 2019…

Bootcamp:

At the start of the year, I got into LevelUp Academy — which trains fresh grads on FullStack Web Development(React, Node, MongoDB) for 6 months and connect them to jobs. The experience was a bittersweet one for me as a beginner but in all I successfully graduated bootcamp and was posted to a Software company where I undertook internship. Here are some projects I built:

1. Kolosave — A clone of the Piggyvest web app, built with React, MongoDB and NodeJS. Find the repo here.
2. Owatimer — An app to enable employees manage their time built with React, MongoDB and NodeJS. Find the repo here.

Community/Volunteering/Speaking

1. Developer Circles Women’s Day Celebration:

I had the opportunity to speak at my first tech event at DevC Port Harcourt, Women’s Day, where i spoke on “Getting Started with Technical Writing”.

3. DevFest Port Harcourt

My talk on “Creating User Visualizations with UML Use Case Diagrams and Journey Maps” was accepted, and i got to speak at DevFest, this was a huge achievement for me seeing that i just recently got to use UML but i found it so useful in the beginning of the project phase and wanted others to find it’s usefulness too. A summary of the event can be found here.

Owanate Amachree @DevFestPh

3. Developer Circles, Port Harcourt Content Team

I’m presently volunteering as Content Editor and Lead Writer for the Developer Circles, Port Harcourt, Content Team and it has been an exciting and purposeful journey so far with my teammates.

Hackhatons:

I participated in the following hackhatons —

1. Accountability and Engagement hackhaton sponsored by the Yar’Adua Foundation, Ken-Saro Wiwa Innovation Hub and NDDC. Though my team didn’t win, i left with a ton of knowledge, well fed stomach and an awesome bed which i didn’t get to sleep in, as well as areas on which to improve my personal learning. Thanks to my awesome teammates — Kelechi Oliver and Tonye Waribo for their support — I can say i had the best teammates.
2. Gitcoin Virtual Hackatons is a 2 weeks online hackhaton for blockchain developers and enthusiasts to work on exciting projects and earn cool prizes, I have been around for most of the virtual hackhatons since April and I’m glad i participated, especially been exposed to new ideas, people and off course the money. My team won the ConsenSys Labs bounty for Open Finance in October, 2019 where we built a Shintsha blockchain DApp for connecting farmers with buyers via Whatsapp and Web3 in Africa, this was a challenging one for me since i’m not a blockchain developer but i got to learn how to work with awesome tools such as UML, Truffle, Ganache etc.

Startups/NGOs

In 2019, I co-founded HerTechTrail — a non-governmental remote-first organization alongside our awesome Founder — Gloria Ojukwu, and Co-Founder — Faith Pueneh. HerTechTrail is a NGO geared towards raising women to build a sustainable career in Tech, by equipping them with relevant Tech skills and providing access to opportunities. We successfully launched the NGO which has since garnered sponsorships from hubs and startups in Port Harcourt Tech EcoSystem — Our sponsors includes — OlotuSquare, Techlinks, Nira Labs etc. Top female techies in the ecosystem were present to speak with the ladies- Theodora Ishola, Patience Ankunda, Anaele Oma and Blessing Anyanwu— Host, in January we’re set to begin fully with our first Online Training on Soft Skills for Techies, this is a huge responsibility but it’s not enough to just live without giving back to society, and as the saying goes- “With great power comes great responsibility”.

Shintsha also qualified to apply to the ConsenSys Grants Program. Unfortunately, we didn’t scale through the rounds but we’re working tirelessly on our MVP and would be reapplying in 2020.

Some Articles Written so far

Introduction to RChain CoLab - RChain Blog

Bring Your Own Identity(BYOID) and Cooperation-as-a-Service (CaaS)

HOW TO: Set Up Your RHOC Wallet - RChain Blog

CoLab Update 11.08.18 - RChain Blog

We React[ed]…..this time with Nodejs

Languages/Technologies Learnt in 2019

1. React
2. NodeJS
3. MongoDB
4. MySQL
5. UML
6. Blockchain UX
7. AdobeXD
8. Javascript
9. Docker
10. Git
11. Linux

and lots more…..

Languages/Technologies to be learnt in 2020

1. More Javascript
2. More NodeJS
3. Solidity — Smart Contract Development
4. dApp Development
5. ReadTheDocs

Gratitude

I wish to thank the following persons for the immense role they’ve played to foster my personal growth — Gloria Ojukwu (My best friend and twin motivator), Solomon Eseme (my backend master and mentor), Ben Ogie (Developer Circles, Port Harcourt Lead), Kelechi Oliver (Awesome teammate), Gino Osahon (Hub Manager, KSIH), Brian Siphamandla (Blockchain Developer and Shintsha Teammate), Pape Alioune (Blockchain Developer and Shintsha Teammate).

Summary

2019 came with its own vicissitudes, but it ended in high spirits for me as I got into the 500NGDevs4Eth Training on Ethereum.

I sure have made good progress so far, and i’m so stoked to begin the year Learning.

Huge thanks for reading.

Please drop claps if you enjoyed my ted talk. LOL.