TheJobsMapStarting a Career Switch: From MBA to Learning to Code
The author, who hadn't formally studied since an MBA years earlier, enrolled in the Upgrade Hub coding bootcamp and began the prework months in advance. She describes building a daily study habit, falling in love with the creative side of coding, and hitting a hard wall of frustration when JavaScript didn't click.
Key takeaways
- Start the bootcamp's prework early, even months ahead, to build momentum before the program officially begins
- Treat studying as a daily habit to rebuild, not a one-time effort, especially if you haven't formally studied in years
- Expect a hard wall with core concepts like JavaScript; frustration at the start is normal, not a sign you should quit
- Use AI tools and free resources like FreeCodeCamp to supplement structured coursework
- Build small daily projects to reinforce basics instead of just watching tutorials passively
When I signed up for the Upgrade Hub bootcamp, I got access to the prework, and that's where this transformation really began.
I graduated in Barcelona, did an MBA back in 2013, and never really "studied" again after that. Sitting down to study code was hard, mostly because sitting down itself is a habit I'd lost, there was always a meal, laundry, or errands pulling me away from the computer.
The bigger question was: how do you even study programming? I'm from the generation of books, pen, and paper. Now I sit in front of VS Code where tags autocomplete themselves and AI answers every question instantly. So I stopped trying to memorize everything and just started sitting down for a bit each day, watching the prework videos and replicating them on my own.
I finished the prework months before the bootcamp even starts in September. I like to get ahead, figuring the more I learn alone now, the easier it'll be later.
Do I like programming? I love it. I've always had a creative side (fashion, decor, images) but never knew how to channel it. Coding feels like a space with infinite tools and no limit except the one I set myself.
But it's not all easy. HTML and CSS, once I understood Flexbox and Grid, I can manage at a basic level. Building a simple card? That I've got. Then came JavaScript in the prework: variables, data types, loops, arrays, functions. I told myself I'd really learn it to understand what it's about. Spoiler: I understood nothing. Not a single exercise worked out, and I finally understood all those stories about frustration at the start.
I'm still asking myself: what am I doing, who am I fooling, how does everyone else get this and I don't? But I also love learning it. I picture myself in five years knowing most of it, and that's what I focus on.
For now, I finished the prework and I'm watching FreeCodeCamp videos on JavaScript and DOM manipulation, building one small HTML/CSS/JS project a day with AI as my ally.