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Apprenticeship Patterns Introductions

For this post, my assignment was to read chapter 1 as well as the introductions for chapters 2-6 of Apprenticeship Patterns by Adewale Oshineye and Dave Hoover. We weren’t required to read anything in addition, but I was interested, so I read the first model from each chapter as well.

This book models a framework for someone to master the discipline. Mastering something can be challenging, and it is easy to give up when faced with some obstacles. Fortunately, this book looks like it will provide a good framework for someone like me.

I liked all the values presented in the introduction. These are a few of my favorites. (1) “Having a growth mindset.” Like many things I can glean from this book, this is a good quality to adopt for all of life when faced with any obstacle. (2) “Share what we know.” I believe that we are stronger when we work together over getting ahead by trampling others to get ahead.

(3) “Willingness to experiment and be proven wrong.” This perhaps was the most important thing that I learned working in groups last semester. Invariably I would go into a project with a range of quality of ideas. Some were good, but many were not. I had to have the humility to admit when an idea I was defending was not a good one. I grew as a person because of that.

For the “emptying the cup” metaphor, I related to the young philosopher quite a bit. I try hard not to be this way, but I find I can have the tendency to give my two cents when in the presence of someone who knows a lot more than me. I should be a lot more willing to listen and learn over speaking what I know. Usually what I have to say is nothing compared to what I can learn.

The advice to “be the worst” made me feel more at ease at the prospect of getting an internship or a job. I am overcoming a fear of being the worst developer at a company. This advice makes me think of it in another way, which is that I will grow so much more as a developer if I surround myself with people that are better than me

I appreciated the C.S. Lewis quote about seeking knowledge "while conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come." This struck very close to home for me, coming from a vacation where I had set maybe a dozen goals for myself. I ended the vacation only finishing a couple of them. I should have forced myself to set aside the time before the fall semester was over to start to accomplish these goals. If I had excuses during the semester, I should have foreseen that I would have excuses over the break.

I am excited to read more about each section. These topics that we will explore truly seem like they will be enjoyable to learn.

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