In Nigeria, there is a new feel of being a developer or programmer. The year 2017 saw lots of people get into the race of becoming programmers; I am one of them. In the process of becoming developers, these persons utilize whatever resources they have to aid their learning. And in most cases they go the way of being self-taught programmers; not because they like tutoring themselves, but because they cannot afford or do not have access to platforms that aid in training programmers. And on came Andela.
Andela has been in Nigeria for a couple years. But being based in Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, getting into the Andela mentorship program was a tedious process and among the thousands who applied only a handful were selected. In the last three years I have always entertained the idea of applying, but because I was (and am) in University it discoraged me. Andela has a policy of devoting four years to its program; its either you forfeit school or whatever you are occupied with to devote the four years to its program (that’s if you are accepted) or you forget about it.
When Andela kickstarted its Andela Learning Community (ALC) in , for those of us who were unfortunate to reside outside Lagos or that were not accepted into its mentorship program, it was a big deal. Adding to this is the fact that the ALC program is supported by Google and Udacity. Udacity provides a special course content for the ALC participants. Now if you have ever thought about going into the world of programming or are currently involved in software development, you would know that having a community or a laid out curriculum to follow makes the learning process a lot easier.
I’m in my second month in the ALC program; undergoing the Android intermediate course, though I have had previous experiences in Android, simply having a community of fellow Android developers that I can share ideas with and also keep me on track in order to complete the course has been of great benefit to me. We have meetups occasionally, and also keep up with each others progress via Slack and whatsapp. Adding to this is the fact that I got my first Android freelance gig via recommendations from a fellow ALC participants.
Keeping this post short, “Andela + Google + Udacity” has provided a venue for aspiring developers scattered throughout Nigeria to be have a world class training and mentorship via their fellow participants.