The Journey began when I received a mail from TIIDELab informing me of my provisional admission into the fellowship, this has been the mail I have been waiting for, forever, I mean, every day, I thought about it, and continuously checked my mail for any update.
The mail finally came on the 19th of June 2023 during the late hours of the night, My friend Joshua called me and asked me to check my mail that he just got a mail from TIIDELab, anxiously I opened my mail and fortunately for me, I got selected for a fully funded scholarship into the program.
It has been a series and series of tests to finally be here, and it was all worth it.
INDUCTION CEREMONY
The induction ceremony took place on the 27th of June,2023 and I learned a lot about TIIDELab as an organization, during the ceremony, I got to know the values, what was expected of me as a fellow and what I expected from the organization, I also understood that I was here for a bumpy smooth ride.
The Founder, Mr Kadir Salami, spoke to us and he told us to try our best to make an impact anywhere we find ourselves, Mr Shams spoke extensively on the importance of collaboration and Teamwork.
FIRST WEEK
The first week of the fellowship was basically for introduction to software engineering and we were extensively taught git and GitHub and the basics of data structures and algorithms.
SECOND WEEK
The second week was a continuation of DSA. We were exposed to several data structures such as widely-known Arrays and Hash tables, as well as others such as Stacks, Queues, Linked lists, Trees, and Graphs.
Monday through Thursday, we have daily activities such as writing CCAT tests, Stand ups, Self-learning sessions, Coding partner sessions, Peer learning sessions, Presentations, and classes with instructors, while Fridays we have Soft skills classes as well as our physical meet up, which happens once every two Fridays.
WEEK 3
During the third week, we were grouped permanently and I was indeed grouped with the best of people, the most creative and also the kindest people ever and we named ourselves Euvola, which means we would stand out.
Also during this week, we were introduced to HTML and CSS and we built our first project, I built a hotel website, and I decided to name it BG, after my sister.
bg-hotel-samuelmary1617-gmailcom.vercel.app
In week 3, we had our first physical meeting, where I met other TIIDELab cohort 5 fellows.
The understanding that we shared interests was one of the most exciting aspects of meeting this amazing group of folks.
WEEK 4
The fourth week was jam-packed with activities. We'd gone over advanced HTML and CSS. We also had our end-of-module presentation. We were also given an overview of Tailwind, including its installation and operation.
We also had our diary session in the fourth week. Individuals get the opportunity to reflect on their experiences, emotions, and thoughts during the journal session, capturing personal insights and observations in a private and introspective setting.
MY CLOSING WORDS
Writing this article, all I can feel is utmost gratitude for the privilege to be a TIIDELab fellow, the people I met, the teachings I have gotten, and the corrections I have received, I know I would look back and be grateful I decided to further my understanding of software engineering in an organization called TIIDELab
I am grateful for every person I have interacted with, from the fellows, down to the tech support, to every tutor, to Mr Shams, our Program Coordinator, to Mr Kadir Salami, the founder of TIIDELab, only one with a heart for men could create such a platform for learning where they are so intentional to see people grow, I am also grateful for ITF and NECA our sponsors, for believing in Nigerian youths, God bless you.