Growing as a Frontend Developer

My Transformative Journey with TIIDElab

"Do something worth mentioning and talk about it always. Kadir Salami, 2020

This week marks the culmination of my six-week journey with TIIDElab. As I prepare to graduate, I reflect on the incredible training, growth, and development I've experienced.

Join me as I share the highlights and lessons from this transformative period.

TIIDElab, which stands for Think, Innovate, Ideate, Develop and Execute, is an innovation hub designed for aspiring tech enthusiasts to build and refine their skills, aiming to make a significant impact in the tech space and world at large.

ONBOARDING SESSION

The onboarding session was led by Mr. Aderoju Shamsudeen Adedapo, Mr. Shams, who gave us a warm welcome and detailed introduction about the pre-fellowship. Our Founder Mr. Kadir Salami spoke about AI being the future, emphasizing its potential to break language barriers and facilitate global understanding. Our guest speaker, Mr. John Orakwe explained the distinctions between AI, machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks. We also met , and we were introduced to our instructors and mentors. The onboarding was a fantastic and great session.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

We began with the basics, starting with HTML and CSS. Learning these was smooth for me, thanks to Ayodele Samuel Adebayo , who did a fantastic job explaining everything at beginner's level. He demonstrated how to build a webpage by creating barbershop landing page. At the end of thus course, we were tasked with creating a personal portfolio using these technologies and also to replicate the barbershop landing page. Yea! I was able to create a responsive portfolio website and a barbershop landing page using HTML and CSS.

https://my-portfolio-nine-phi-37.vercel.app/

We moved on to Python which was taught by Mr Tijani. He taught us data types, Integration of APIs, Creating virtual environment and more.. Initially, Python was challenging, but over time, I understood several concepts, especially those related to machine learning.

Then we moved to Artificial Intelligence (AI), which I had been anticipating since the start of the pre-fellowship. Here, I learnt how to use APIs from machine learning models in Python. Our tutor , Dr Aminu taught us how to generate APIs from Hugging face website. After each lecture, we were given tasks to complete and submit on time, helping us to apply everything we had learnt in practice. This hands-on approach was invaluable in solidifying my understanding and skills.

TEAM WORK AND PROJECT

All participants were grouped into teams and assigned projects to work on. I was placed in Team 2, which we later named MetaMinds - Where Intelligence Meets Innovation. Our project involved creating a movie and book website which was titled ReadnReels. ReadnReels is a book and movie website that allow users to leave reviews for books and movies, filter recommendations by genre and highlight trending books or movies based on user activity.

PRE-FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIES

Every Thursday, we usually have presentations where every team showcased their progress on their projects. We were expected to present our work, receive feedbacks, and learn what improvements were needed.

I never missed a Friday meeting for anything. These sessions focused on soft skills development with TIIDElab's Big Brother, Mr. Shams, and Mrs. Cynthia. Our speakers made these classes impactful and interesting. They covered topics such as attitude, presentation skills, storytelling for product marketing and presentations, and article writing. They were truly eye-opening and left me feeling more enlightened. I'm so glad I was a part of these sessions.

Another activity I must highlight is X Spaces on Saturdays. The first session was a Q&A with mentors and our coordinator, where we asked questions related to TIIDElab and the pre-fellowship. All our questions were answered thoroughly. Another session featured alumni who shared tips and tricks for newbies in tech. Subsequent meetings focused on questions related to the curriculum and advice on excelling in our projects. These sessions were invaluable in guiding us through the program.

PERSONAL GROWTH

Joining this pre-fellowship has been a significant growth experience for me, especially in honing my communication skills. Reaching out to mentors, teammates, and fellow participants when issues arose, as well as actively contributing to team discussions, was crucial.

Time management was another essential skill I developed. Balancing being online for announcements, attending classes, and submitting assignments on time while managing my daily activities was initially challenging. However, as the pre-fellowship progressed, I adapted. For a tech newbie, effective time management is vital.

Teamwork was a key lesson. Working with my team underscored the importance of collaboration. There was an instance when our team failed to coordinate effectively for a Sprint presentation, the coordinator halted our presentation. This experience taught me that without unity, coordination and organization, achieving the best result as a team is impossible.

CONCLUSION

I am grateful to TIIDELab for this great opportunity. I extend my gratitude to Mr shams for his guidance and words of encouragement throughout this journey. I also want to say a big thank you to my tutors Ayodele Samuel Adebayo, Mr Tijani and Dr. Momoh, to all mentors at TIIDElab, my teammates and all the amazing people I met during the pre-fellowship for their guidance and support. I eagerly look forward to applying all that I've learnt to make a significant impact in the tech industry.

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." – B.B. King