As someone who has recently been given the opportunity to work on a collaborative project both inside and outside of the classroom, I found chapter 1 very enlightening. It helped put my current situation into perspective and helped to calm any thoughts of “imposter syndrome”. Looking at myself as an apprentice, it was helpful to have this chapter help me reflect on the reality of my position, what may be expected of me, and how to go about using this time to my advantage, especially when it comes to my learning. This chapter helped me realize that one of the most important parts of my time as an apprentice is being open about the concepts I don’t know, and searching out ways to find answers to the questions I have and being intentional about building my knowledge.
My two favorite chapter introductions were about “Emptying the Cup” and “Accurate Self-assessment”. This resonated the most with me because, not only with this new career path, I have always felt the self inflicted pressure of needing to already have all the answers. When learning a new skill it is important to create a solid foundation of knowledge as the book suggests. Going forward I will focus on adapting the “white belt pattern” and maintaining a beginners mindset even with areas that I may think I am competent in. I will “expose myself to ignorance” and be honest with any team I work with about something that I do not know; this will ultimately help me build trust with my team members and assess my learning ability over my current knowledge. I will actively ask pointed questions to those more knowledgeable than me to refrain from “hiding” the gaps in my knowledge. When it comes to striving to reach mastery in this field, it is important even after working through the apprentice level, to always surround yourself with people that hold more knowledge than you. By actively “being the worst” member of a team, the rate of my continuous learning will never slow as there will always be someone that I can learn something from. By continuously mimicking the practices of stronger developers, I will add more micro-techniques and habits to my routine that will aid in becoming a better learner, teammate, and developer.
Anna The Dev 