[Launch School] Community Update - July 6th, 2023

Hello, all! Brandi here. I've had a busy few weeks since I last saw you. A lot has happened, but most importantly I became a foster mom 🥲. I ended up back in Wyoming (Goodbye for now, street cats of Mexico!), and a brand new kitten, orphaned as the only surviving sibling of a feral litter, needed a foster. Now, I thought I was just bottle feeding. Turns out, Henri had a severe upper respiratory infection and an eye infection 😬. The vet gave him a 50/50 chance of living. It was a rough couple of days, but I'm happy to report that two weeks later, Henri is thriving (and more photogenic 🙃)! He's now a ripe 4 weeks old and getting very spunky. Now I just need to get this little guy on to some solid food so I can stop waking up in the middle of the night to bottle feed. So, meet Henri: [Henri Collage] Alright, onto Launch School news... --------------------------------------------------------------- Smooth Start The first round of the new Smooth Start program was such a smashing success that we're starting a new round! Importantly, Smooth Start is now available to Prep students. We've had great feedback from students about this program during the beginning of their journeys, so join us. More info and sign up at the links below: [Smooth Start for Prep Students]( [Smooth Start for Core Students]( Do you want to be a Smooth Start lead? Do you want to help others get started on their Launch School journey? Share your advice, make friends, and become more ingrained in the community. If you've completed the 129 assessments for your track, you can become a Smooth Start Lead! Read more about what it entails and sign up [here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Farewell With the next Capstone cohort quickly approaching, two of our long-term TAs are leaving us! Christopher and Spencer, we'll miss you dearly! You were beacons of kindness and compassion for many students wading through nerve-wracking interviews and assessments. We can't wait to see what you create in Capstone and beyond! 🚀 --------------------------------------------------------------- Meetups #Vancouver had a meetup a few days ago: [Vancouver Meetup] There was an epic meetup in Vienna! Join the #europe-africa-timezones channel to stay in the loop for the next one. [Vienna Meetup] Finally, #cleveland had a meetup: [Cleveland Meetup] As for upcoming meetups, I don't see anything on the docket, but allegedly #california-south has one brewing. If I missed one, make sure to post it in Slack! --------------------------------------------------------------- Women's Group The Women's Group is having its next meetup on July 23rd at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern. This meeting's topic will be Study Tips. Get more info [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Workshops We're on our second round of the new workshops! There are still some great workshops for students in Prep and our early Core courses. Still, there are also some great topics for students anywhere in the curriculum. Keep an eye on the [Events page]( and [Community Forum]( to stay up to date. Here are a few upcoming workshops: - July 11th we have Study Tips with Trevor - July 18th I'm hosting a workshop on Soft Skills - July 25th JD will share his Effective Note-taking strategies --------------------------------------------------------------- The Buzz New Faces Wow, we had a lot of introductions in the last couple of weeks. 👋 Welcome 👋 to the crew Kavita, Aiman, Beatriz, Seij, Bobby, Christine, Kirill, Robby, Noah, Nicholas, Claire, Hugo, and Lucas. I hope you're reading this and finding other ways to stay up-to-date and engaged with this great community. Do I need math? Many of us have wondered, do I need to learn math to be a software engineer? Andrew asked, and a lot of people answered. We have insights from students, Capstone attendees, a Ph.D. in Mathematics, and, as always, great wisdom from Pete. [Check it out]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What great YouTube channels can distract me from studying? Oh my, do we have the answer to this. [Pete laid the bait](, and we all showed up to take it. There are some great suggestions. Also, turns out Pete and I have a very similar playlist. 👀 You have good taste! --------------------------------------------------------------- Double Monitor or Ultra-Wide? Turns out, there are oodles of opinions on how to upgrade your screen real estate. Treat yourself, but first, [check out the setup your comrades are using](. Personally, I like the one with Srdjan's cat. (Just kidding, I use a portable monitor that's thin, light, and runs on the computer's battery. Perfect for those on a budget or without a permanent desk.) --------------------------------------------------------------- Staying fit when your job is to sit Are you getting up from your computer at least once an hour? (Spoiler, probably not 👀) I hate to break focus, but we must care for these vessels that carry around our brains. [Here's]( a discussion with ideas and some honest talk about staying fit when our job is to sit. --------------------------------------------------------------- That's all the buzz, and that's all I have for you today. I'm headed to give Henri his first solid food. Wow, they grow up fast. 🥹 See ya next time! [Henri Camping] --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](