My Experience in the Zuri Training
In this article, I want to share my experience during the Zuri Training. What it is all about, why I decided to take part in it and why you should take advantage of the opportunity when the next cohort starts, let’s dive right in!
What is Zuri Training?
This is a 4-month long remote training program for beginners which promises to give you everything you need to get started. Here, you gain access to enough knowledge to introduce and aid your success in the tech industry.
The areas that are explored in the training are Frontend Development, Backend Development, Design, Mobile Development, Cloud, and Frameworks.
To learn more about Zuri Training, tap here
Who is Ingressive for Good?
Ingressive For Good (I4G) is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and increasing the earning power of African youth through tech training and resources. They also seek to formally train African tech talents in need, studying computer science, by providing scholarships to Ivy-Leagues of Africa.
They partnered with Zuri Training to grant scholarships and make access more accessible for ladies.
To learn more about Ingressive for Good, tap here
Why I took part in the Training?
I started my journey in Product Design early this year by reading online articles and any book I could find. I had the theoretical aspect down to a fault, so I was looking for a way to start actually doing the design part.
From March 15th up until the 20th of July, we had a series of classes, zoom calls, stand-ups, seminars, tasks, you name it! It was so beginner-friendly and easy-paced that I could soak up as much as I could.
What was the training like?
I registered for the Design track, we had over 6,000+ like-minded people trying to make the most of the opportunity. We were in a Slack channel strictly for designers, alongside mentors who put us through the ropes, showed us the basics and fundamentals of design.
We had a series of Youtube Live Classes, Zoom Meetings, and lots of tasks to deliver. There were two phases which lasted for two months respectively; The Training phase was meant to equip us with the basics to get us, designers, to stand on our own and think for ourselves. And during the Project phase, we were grouped with other tracks like FE, BE & Mobile to work on a real-life project that solves a business problem/challenge.
Were there any drawbacks during the program?
You see that channel they call Random, enough violation took place in there. Most times the pace of the program was slow and staggered in order to carry everyone along, and for us designers, we hardly got any feedback on how to improve.
I am not in any way trashing the program, the mentors are human beings too who have very busy lives. They took the time out of their busy schedule to teach beginners like us and I will forever be grateful.
My accomplishments during the program
- I started and made it to the end of the program,
- I volunteered to write over ten articles about Android on the Zuri Writers Team
- I was the Design Lead for Team Naruto and we took 4th place during a game session.
- I learned the basics and fundamentals of design.
- I created wireframes, user journey maps, and flows and crafted high-fidelity prototypes.
- I worked with FrontEnd and BackEnd Developers to bring our project solutions to life.
Where I fell short during the program
- I did not connect properly with other participants of the program,
- I only focused on the visual aspect of design and did not really pay attention to the accessibility aspect of design,
- I felt I could have done much better, but I performed to the best of my ability.
It was a really engaging and tasking four months, we used slack as our medium of communication throughout the program. I learned so much just not about design, I got to understand there is more to the industry than just your hard skills…your soft skills are just as important too. I am so delighted that I could be part of that experience!
Thank you for reading this article. You can read more articles as well as connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn, let’s talk about anything like design or even anime :).
