Recently, the 5th cohort of the famous “Taskforce Bootcamp” initiated by DSAA e.V. member Code of Africa GmbH and Rwandan partner company Awesomity Ltd culminated with the trainees’ final presentations. Graduate Nicolas Musoni Nshuti, 28 used the closing event to share insights about the spirit during the 6 weeks of training while focusing on the team vibe and activities during “cultural Fridays”.
The wise man looked around one day and said “happiness comes within” and he became silent. That is a story I heard, but I can agree with that. We do what we do just to make ourselves feel happy and since we are all different, what we do to achieve it and how we express it, is different.
Well, I’m not going to lecture you on that but I’ve got a story to tell on how mine has been so far during my time at Taskforce 5.0. Just a recap, hold your ribs and desist from laughter. Oxygen lately is expensive to find.
One faithful evening off my usual routine, I decided to check out what others were talking about and then discovered a call for applicants that welcomed developers to take a challenge to apply for the next Taskforce bootcamp. I happily looked for the link with all the information and took on the challenge. I did the interviews and was given the offer.
Once there, everyone welcomed us warmly, because they knew our intention was to master the skills they have to share. We introduced each other and I realized I was the grandfather amongst my fellow interns. So, why not become the leader of the group, makes sense, right?
That was the intro to my story though. Sit tight as you grab a cup of coffee and read on. As days went by, we learned numerous sets of skills we really needed to master the art of being good programmers, but my happy part is also somewhere else: Breakfast and lunchtime have always been the best times during the day, but guess what, there is even something better than that.
The valentine code
The explanation can only be delivered by Thirtsa, the only lady in the cohort who I personally never expected to be so cool among us nine boys. Her presence is equivalent to finding the line with a missing comma that was crushing your code.
There is Manzi, the youngest in the room with lots of conspiracy theories about politics. Sometimes we wonder why he isn’t a lawyer but we are happy he is not as most of us would have fallen short at his hands in court. What becomes even better is when he is in a conversation with Ibrahim, aka the FIFA guy, over things that are so strange to some, but they understand each other. Janvier comes in with his happy mood, all smiling just to interrupt the conversation with his geeky move, while Christopher is preparing for the next joke that somehow makes everyone laugh to their knees.
You can’t imagine how I always enjoy those moments when Samuel, aka the law-abiding, argues with Sam, aka the Python guy, and Elvis, aka the React master, pours in his ideas to confuse everyone just to create peace and Maniple has to support whoever is winning just so he can pull the legendary move.
Friday is the day we are always looking out for as it holds the most secrets to our happiness in the Taskforce.
Presentations
Each Friday we have to team up and give a demo on things we did learn throughout the week and present it to the elite class, I mean to the facilitators, alumni, and senior devs who already have knowledge about what is needed when aiming a career as a software engineer. It is worth giving them that title, right?
And you will start asking yourself why this is the moment we all are always excited about – well that is just the icing to the cake as the cake is what follows.
Just like a friend from England would say: Partee is the real cake!
It is one of those moments when we get to interact with the elite, share a drink and listen to their advice as they are more relaxed than on other days when they are occupied by their individual working schedules.
Need for speed
After the official part on Friday, it’s time not only to get advice from the Seniors but also to relax and play. For example, there is a four-player racing competition where everyone has to connect to one of the laptops with the game. The thrive to dominance is what makes the game especially interesting. No one is a winner here. When you try to dominate, the rest of the team goes against you, and trust me you are on a losing track. The interesting part here is the bending of rules, again!
Well rest assured, this is very much inevitable as the desire for dominance is at its peak. The funniest part is when there are four other players waiting to join, the first is also considered a loser who has never been anywhere else in the world of competitions. When I look back and think of my initial idea of becoming the leader of the group, I thank God I never did as I would have not lasted a minute with them.
If you’ve been paying attention, then you will start asking yourself about my role in the whole story, well rest assured as it is so simple: “I’m the one writing it for you to read”. You rejoice in suffering when you love what you gain through suffering more than what you are giving up in suffering. And you will ask for my sacrifice and I’ll think about the response.
And now my mind has the giggly feeling after a recap on my joyful days with the team and can’t resist laughing.
