Desc: My final task at Dev Academy was to create and deploy this website. A place to showcase my work as I turn my eye to employment. I took this as an opportunity to fully modernize my stack by learning and adding Tailwind, Next.js & deploying with Vercel. Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing these days?

Retro: Coding without the structure of Dev Academy around is a lot harder. Both to maintain a schedule and focus on the MVP. More than a few times I got invested in building a slick animation and lost sight of the assessment goals. Using Tailwind is interesting. I think it shines when trying to quickly spin up a prototype but, for now, I can't seem to customize it how I would like. I would need to spin up a Full-Stack CRUD app to feel I've made any inroads with Next.js, perhaps that should be my "next" adventure.

Desc: My first time coding for a real (fake) client and employing the principles of agile. In a team of 10 we were tasked with turning user stories into a fully functional application. This experience most closely resembled a simulation of a real-world work force.

Retro: Whilst we had all practiced giving actionable and specific feedback before, our facilitator moderated retro after the first day was a masterclass. I had wished I was a fly on the wall or behind a one-way mirror as I couldn't take notes whilst the growth criticism was levied at the team and I. The next day I thought I would be walking into a team dismayed and demotivated however, the opposite was true. Everyone was determined to deliver on the advice levied and even though the feedback was critical it only helped us axe our inefficiencies and hone the dynamics that were working.