[Launch School] Community Update - May15th, 2024

Hey there! Clare here, your snack connoisseur. Last weekend, we had unseasonably great weather in the UK, so my little family and I went for a bike ride on a disused railway line called the Cuckoo Trail. It's a lovely route because it is traffic-free and reasonably flat, which is essential if I'm to keep my whinge quotient down (my daughters are much hardier than I am). Halfway along the route, we saw a sign for the Cuckoo Cafe, promising snacks galore, which, as you know, is right up my street and would make the ride worthwhile as I could do some research for this very community update. Upon entering the establishment, my youngest immediately clocked the 'Jammie Dodger Blondie'. For the uninitiated, a Jammie Dodger is essentially two discs of buttery shortbread embracing a gooey center of raspberry "jam" (or, let's be honest, a jam-like chemical concoction that glues the biscuits together). Originating in Wales in the swinging '60s, these biscuits were the brainchild of Burton Biscuits, and though there have been a few spin-offs like the Choccie and Toffee Dodgers, they have yet to quite capture the original's magic. They were named after the Beano comic book character "Roger the Dodger," who was renowned for his ability to dodge responsibility, particularly concerning his homework (I am also not a fan of the 'h' word). So here we are, in picturesque England, about to sample a snack that uses jammie dodgers as the main ingredient. "What could possibly go wrong?" I hear you ask. [jammie-dodger-blondie] A lot, as this photo would attest to. The yummy pineapple cooler was quickly dispatched, but the jammie dodger treat was found to be inedible, which is quite a feat between my youngest and me. Something with such promise had gone horribly wrong. The jammie dodger is wonderful because it has the perfect ratio of biscuit to jam, which we already knew (we are very experienced with the jammie dodger in our household). Therefore, adding anything other than more jammie dodgers to a jammie dodger was bound to upset this balance. We only had ourselves to blame. My eldest went with the delectable fruit scone — there is no photo of that because every crumb was consumed. The moral of this story is don't mess with a British classic, and you can't go wrong with a scone, so long as you follow the [rules]( (rhymes with 'stone', cream before jam, served with afternoon tea). Moving on... --------------------------------------------------------------- Smooth Start Our Spring/Summer Smooth Start Cohort is starting next week, which is very exciting. We have many guest speakers lined up and great leads to facilitate each group. When starting your Launch School journey, Smooth Start is a lovely way to meet peers, explore study techniques, and talk to graduate software engineers. Don't worry if you missed out this time; it's entirely optional. However, check out the Smooth Start page to join the waitlist for the next round if you fancy joining in (with this many people having this much fun—what's not to like?). [smooth-start-medley] Podcasts Speaking of Smooth Start, Brandi has been busy since the last update, releasing not one but two new podcasts. The first is with Karis on all things Smooth Start. You can catch it [here](. In the second of this month's episodes, Brandi interviewed Patrick about his experience working through the core curriculum, including the benefits of Launch School's flexibility (it's all about balance). Watch it [here](. And, of course, you can always search for 'Launch School' on your favorite podcast app to find these and all previous episodes. Meet-ups There have been some great in-person meet-ups this month, including Minnesota, Utah, Mitch's study group, and a mini post-Capstone gathering (which was worth two images because the photos are so cute): [may-meetups] I don't know of any planned meet-ups but check out the (numerous) Slack channels to see if there's one for a region near you. If there isn't, feel free to try and start one up! Pete also had a great [suggestion](: prefix location-specific channels with 'regional-' to make them easier to find. So, if you have created a channel for a local region, you now know how to be found! Women's Group Our regular Launch School Women's Group Virtual meeting is on Sunday, June 2nd, at 2 pm EDT. This will include a focused discussion on "Parenting at Launch School." We all have commitments to consider, and exploring different strategies we use to find a balance that works for us will be great. Check out this [forum post]( for more information, including how to sign up. Student articles The tradition of students writing great articles about their programming and studying exploits continues. This time, we have some prodigious authors. Joshua has written two articles. In the first ([Launch School - My Experience](michael.joshua.hall/launch-school-my-experience-652d1985e234)), Joshua explores transitioning to software engineering and what to expect from Launch School. The second ([I Failed My First Assessment At Launch School](michael.joshua.hall/i-failed-my-first-assessment-at-launch-school-53b864a6c4b5)) looks at the positives of NY and the support to be gained from our community. Sara has written four articles. First, [Study techniques and preparation against assessment shenanigans](, and then a 3-parter on [Nested collection navigation, looping, method chaining, and shallow copies!]( Lastly, something close to my heart as I still haven't taken the plunge on the 229 assessment, JD's [What's this: Something in the air of JavaScript's Execution Context](jondfortune/whats-this-something-in-the-air-of-javascript-s-execution-context-7f637dbf4614). If you're struggling with this, this is the article for you. [student-articles] On the Grapevine Our Slack channels are the key to getting involved in Launch School's community. There are many channels for all interests, so you can balance work and play. Nathan has created a new [#photography]( group for (non-pet) photos! Don't let this distract you from Launch Schools's best channel though: [#gratuitous_pet_photos](. Following on from Brandi's idea in the last CU about absurd things we do to prepare for assessments, check out this [thread]( for ideas. Snacks featured a lot, for which I'm happy to take credit - snacks are a food group all of their own and are essential for optimizing brain power. Naya found an application for [binary search]( in the physical world - Launch School is here for all your interior decorating needs. --------------------------------------------------------------- Let's finish with some spectacular photos of the [Northern lights](. The right white balance is essential to a great photo, and our Launch School photographers have achieved this with aplomb. [northern-lights] (Disclaimer: some photos may not be genuine.) --------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, you can use the one-click link below to unsubscribe. [Unsubscribe From All Email]( [Unsubscribe From Weekly Summaries](