Hello all!

// TLDR What are your thoughts on finishing a boot camp (UofA MERN stack) then using that to land a job while you attend online classes for a CS degree?

Want to see alot of run-on sentences? Read on below!

As many people before me,I took this boot camp out of desperation . I come from a poor and uneducated family but was lucky enough to marry into a much more educated and healthy family.

I dropped out of school at sixteen and started working to keep my family from becoming homeless and not to be 'parasite' on society.

I immediately got a GED. From there I have gone on to do so many different things. I have worked in the railroad industry, I'm a carpenter, I can run almost any piece of heavy equipment you see on a job site( save cranes),I'm a certified mobility technician (I can build and repair manual and electric wheel chairs), I'm a certified personal trainer and rock climbing instructor.

I have learned all these things and been left hollow by all of them. The most I have ever made in one year was $42,000. I always get promoted into leadership roles wherever I work and I rapidly burn out after a couple years of doing whatever I have done. I'm extremely privileged to be able to keep trying all these things and in no way am I not grateful.

This year I wound up with an opportunity, my wife and I have saved enough and put ourselves in a situation that I could attend a coding boot camp.

I knew immediately that this was in no way going to be equivalent to a degree, but I have a couple friends that have broken into the field as junior devs and one of them didn't even finish the certification.

This of course spurred me on to give this thing a shot and I signed up this past January, started in March and now I'm in my last month of boot camp. I'm absolutely floored by this stuff. I have no doubt in my mind that I may be well in over my head. I have somehow maintained a decent grade throughout the course, though I struggle with ADHD, the motivation to learn more and more is only growing and it has helped me to really push through some hard content.

Now that I'm actually starting to grasp the content that I am learning I have come to the conclusion that for the first time in my life I think I may be able to really throw my self into the ocean of possibilities that is Computer science and it's associated professions. I'm in sort of a catch twenty two. the only way I can afford a degree on my own is by being able to make more money. The only way I can make even slightly more money is to get certified in something that I can learn.

So here I am. About to be certified as a MERN stack dev. I know a six month certificate isn't going to get me a MERN stack position anywhere. But I know I can break in in some capacity.

Obviously, I digress. I only wanted to say all of this, as means to relate. I know many of you out there potentially reading this have taken different paths and are in very similar positions to myself. We're all scrambling to survive in different ways right now. I know some of you out there are struggling and rolling through the forums here. Your not alone! Let's keep trying! let's keep learning and doing our best!

(TLDR:2 When someone wants to keep learning beyond boot camp, what is the best path to take?)

(TLDR:3 However hard that path is, some of us out here are ready to take it and the programming/engineering community only stands to benefit itself with more people trying their hardest to reach them even from the depths of darkness they are born into)

Holy cow if you just read all of that.....cheers. I'm sure it's obvious I'm stress posting here. I just finished a big project in class and I'm starting to see the bigger picture and wow it's scary and amazing.Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. Have a good evening, and I hope the best for all of you.