Wooteco Level 1 Retrospective (Light)
A light Level 1 retrospective
This post has been translated from Korean to English by Gemini CLI.
I’m writing this more simply because the post I was writing disappeared. Therefore, the tone and content will be more raw, and I plan to write it in a way that will be helpful for me to look back on later. The retrospective will be conducted using the KPT method.
If you don’t know what KPT is, check out this link: What is KPT Retrospective?
Keep
Efforts to Soar
I thought the Wooteco pre-course was just another part of my efforts to live diligently. I was lucky enough to get in, and I think I developed a sense of responsibility.
A competition ratio of about 35:1, friends who didn’t make it, and even the opportunity to join Baemin as a new hire. I resolved to live diligently, even if it wasn’t my best.
So, I think I had a satisfying Level 1. I grew and achieved a lot in terms of development, but I think I made a lot of progress socially.
Many people are surprised when they hear my MBTI. Is Joysun an INFP? I don't think so at all.
I tried quite hard. Especially during this precious year-long opportunity & networking, I didn’t want to be shy and avoid talking to people or having conversations.
So did I become an ENFP? If you ask, the answer is no. However, I tried not to avoid people who started conversations with me & tried to make small talk.
What I realized was that people don’t dislike having conversations.
As developers with the same goal, as developers who have overcome the competition, we respect and honor each other, so I think we can have more in-depth conversations and ask questions that we wouldn’t normally ask.
I still feel awkward and scared at times, but I have to try my best to face the waves 🌊🌊
Coach-Suda Time
Actually, during the one-month period of Wooteco Level 1, if you ask me what the best or most meaningful activity was, I would say it was the chat time with the coaches.
It was very difficult at first. No matter how much the coaches made us feel comfortable and told us to come to the coach room if we had any questions, I was worried that I might be taking away their break time since they are coaches after all.
Neo gave me a very comfortable answer to my worries.
At first, I really asked questions about things I was curious about during class or about Neo’s code.
And so on the 12th, 22nd, 26th, 29th… I would ask on Slack and go find them, or go find them after class. Towards the end, when I met Neo when he came out to get water, I would say, Neo, are you busy? Can we have a light development chat?
What do you talk about when you go? I don’t decide what to talk about.
However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s how beneficial it is to talk to someone who has practical experience and is in the field.
Neo’s project experience at his company, the swamp of technology, is a clean design always good code? I think we had a lot of conversations that are hard to have in general conversations.
As an example of a conversation What if you have to process an event for the first 10,000 people?
-> My answer: Use Kafka, use a Load Balancer in front, and so on…
Of course, Neo explained that this was the correct answer. But can’t I just insert everything into the table and use LIMIT 10000?? I think this is fine in terms of concurrency and stability compared to Kafka. => He explained that I shouldn’t be consumed by technology like this! 🤩
In addition to these things, there are various things such as the attitude to become a mature developer and the reason for teaching the content in class.
Therefore, I think I will continue to bother the coaches until Wooteco is over, not just at this level (Sry coaches…)
Tête-à-tête with the Reviewer
I think the flower of Wooteco is the mission, and the tree is the reviewers.
We grow and learn the basics through missions, but in order to learn the basics, we need feedback and questions from the reviewers.
The flower blooms because there is a tree.
Questions, areas for improvement, things I missed, etc. The flower can bloom more reliably because a third party, a junior developer in the field, is looking at it.
This picture is not because I’m good at it, or because I did well (in fact, if there are many, it means I did poorly…, Shout out to Wedge who scolded me 🥔) I included this picture because it was so impressive.
What I realized after having 105 conversations with one person was that it is possible to have in-depth conversations and tête-à-têtes while looking at code non-face-to-face!
Honestly, it was difficult at the end. 🥲🥲 Nevertheless, because we had so many deep conversations, I think I was able to look back on many of the detailed parts that I missed.
Since Level 2 is Spring, I’ll have to have a deeper and more in-depth tête-à-tête with the reviewer!
Problem
How to Ask Good Questions
’’’ Soft skills feedback: You were the most inquisitive and curious crew member I have reviewed so far. Your attitude was friendly and your desire to resolve your curiosity was strong, which was good to see. However, asking questions is also a skill, and your questions were a bit lengthy. I expect you to become more proficient as you continue to ask many questions in the future.
- Summarize the content of your question in one line.
- Summarize the content that the other person ultimately needs to answer in one line.
- Think about whether the structure is one that the other person can answer.
- Make it a habit to Google before asking a question (the quality of your question will improve if you ask after searching and synthesizing the information).
That being said, I hope you don’t find asking questions too difficult and continue to ask many questions as you do now. I think you will either become a question mark murderer or someone great. ‘’’ I received feedback like this. I am so grateful for these words. 😭 And, I myself felt that my questions were lacking.
As Ur taught us during the 5-suta (chat time with a 5th-term senior), I need to know how to ask questions.
Good answers come from good questions, you know? It can also be a way to challenge the reviewer based on what you know and the grounds for your thoughts!
I still find it difficult to organize my thoughts and ask in-depth questions.
Should I just ask the reviewer, I don't know this, can you tell me? Even if they tell me these things, they are things I can eventually look up.
I think both my energy to ask the reviewer and the reviewer’s energy to teach me are wasted.
The Habit of Organizing & Reviewing What I’ve Learned
Life at Wooteco is very busy. There are classes every day (soft skills, backend, common…) or activities (posuta, teco talk…)
I’m learning and gaining a lot, but I don’t think the pilot can keep up… That’s why it’s important to organize and review the content, but I haven’t been able to. Of course, I have organized it, but it’s a simple organization + my memory has faded over time.
Since I’m studying instead of doing other things during this busy time, I think it’s essential to not forget this content and be able to use it when it’s useful.
How to Assert Your Own Thoughts
This is the biggest problem I felt during my Level 1 life. I have been studying in an unrefined way, focusing on what I want to study and difficult topics.
As a result, when I was pair programming and asserting my opinion to my pair, I didn’t explain it clearly and with grounds, but rather with words that didn’t give the other person confidence, such as "As I remember it","I think it was ~~?
To persuade someone, you must present them with clear grounds.
Try
Organizing My Thoughts
I still have many shortcomings. In particular, let’s keep in mind that I came here to study, not to get a job! (Of course, it would be best if I could get a job after I finish…)
If there are parts I don’t know or things I’m confused about while implementing code, let’s not ask the reviewer right away, but first, let’s just search the internet for that content.
Then, a draft of the question or information will be completed. After that, let’s reorganize the content.
As I organize it, I may be able to organize it myself, or I may still be confused. Or, it may be a subjective content that requires cross-validation from the reviewer. Then let’s ask a question!
What - Let’s objectively decide what to ask. How - Let’s organize the actions and content up to the point of asking what. Why are you asking - If it’s a lack of knowledge, reveal the lack, if it’s a difference of opinion, express it.
I haven’t tried it yet, but even if I approach it with just these three things, with a certain level of quality questions and basic prior knowledge, wouldn’t the reviewer be able to just answer with their own thoughts and skip the preliminary explanation of the content?
Conscious Content Recording
The content recording I’m talking about here shouldn’t just be about leaving or typing the content.
Of course, I can look at it later. I’ve recorded the content, so it’s okay to look at it later, right? -> I don’t think so.
If you record the content, it’s the knowledge and opinion of the person who told you. There is no trace of me.
If there is no trace of me and no content, other people’s memories are bound to fade later. Assuming there are 3-4 classes a week, I also need to respond to this class systematically.
I don’t know what the level or difficulty of the lectures will be in Level 2, and I don’t know the situation, so I can’t confidently say I’ll do this and that, but I’m going to try to select a set process first.
After class, I will definitely take 20-40 minutes to organize the content. (If I finish in the morning? -> I can do it after lunch, right? If I finish in the afternoon and don’t have time? -> I can do it after dinner, right?)
The content I organize at this time is to take the time to neatly organize the raw content that I have typed quickly. I’m not looking for the content, but laying the groundwork, such as organizing the table of contents, organizing the title & subheadings, etc.
After that, I’ll somehow make time, about an hour - the time is not important. It’s to dig deeper into the content. Let’s leave my traces on the content. (Wouldn’t it be OK to just add a simple footnote, write down what I’ve looked up, or just check it?)
Finally, let’s talk about the content for about 20 minutes and verify if there is anything strange or if it is good content.
I think I can prepare for metacognition and find unnatural content while talking.
Deepen the Content
When I was talking to Gugu, he asked me, “What is the source of the content?” I could only say, “Uh… I saw it on a blog, is it wrong…?”
After that, Gugu told me to look up Wikipedia or Martin Fowler’s blog posts. Of course, this doesn’t mean that this content is always correct, but I realized that I need to look for more diverse information and deeper content.
In addition, I plan to somehow use a translator to read the English content. (I heard deepl is good)
With this, I’d like to conclude my light retrospective of Level 1. I think I’m growing a lot in many ways, both internally and externally in terms of development. In particular, I really like the meaningful classes here, such as strengthening my mindset and flexibility.
I believe I can do well in Level 2, and I’m confident, so Adios Amigo!
