Adora Nwodo x Educative Technical Writing Workshop in Nigeria

Educative Answers + Adora Nwodo#

Educative Answers recently partnered with Adora Nwodo, an award-winning Software Engineer and published author from Lagos, Nigeria to run two Technical Writing Workshops. Adora currently works at Microsoft where she specializes in Mixed Reality. Outside of her role, she is dedicated to helping her community and impacting people’s lives through knowledge sharing. Adora is also the author of the book “Cloud Engineering for Beginners”, and is getting another book published later on this year.

Over the span of these two workshops, Educative Answers and Adora Nwodo lead participants through a 4-week intensive writing workshop. Participants were able to cultivate their own writing process and experiment with Educative’s executable code widgets.

Meet the winners!#

We spoke with Adora Nwodo and seven of the participants from these two workshops about their unique journeys and aspirations in tech. You can take a peek at some of their responses to our questions below, but first, let’s meet the participants!

Q & A#

Q: What led you to coding and how did you learn to code?

David Odejobi: “I've been a computer fanatic since I was young even though I grew up with minimal access to basic resources such as a laptop, good electricity, and other things. What prompted me to go into tech was my desire to help build an app for my church that could perform basic CRUD operations and serve as a Bible study app during the lockdown in 2020. I began learning to code primarily through online courses as well as through reading books.”

Ihuoma Anosike: “I started coding in 2020 during the lockdown because I was looking for something new to learn. During this time I acquired other skills such as sewing and fashion design, but I wasn't satisfied and wanted to learn something new. One day while talking with my friend, she mentioned that I should learn a technical skill. At the time I didn't know anything about tech. I started doing some research and decided to start my tech career in the Frontend development field. I began to learn on my own by watching YouTube videos on my phone because I didn’t have a laptop. I did this until after the lockdown when I joined a BootCamp held in my local area. Then, my brother gave me his laptop and I have been coding ever since. Currently, I'm in the blockchain ecosystem, which has been an interesting journey so far.”

Nuruddeen Sambo: “Curiosity about computers led me to coding. I was introduced to QBasic in Secondary school, but it wasn't until after I graduated from secondary school that I really got into it. It happened that I couldn't secure admission to a university that year; so, while waiting to re-apply for admission the following year, I enrolled in a web design course. My passion for coding was ignited and I never looked back.”

Marvelous:  “I've always been in awe of websites and applications on the internet. I love making beautiful things, especially out of what may seem like nothing; I love how programmers are known to be problem solvers. So, after completing my bachelor's degree, I decided to continue my education and learn to be a Frontend developer. I'm finishing up school right now.”

Ukaoha: “ I got introduced to coding by a friend. I was so fascinated with what he was doing, I wanted to try it out almost immediately. I typed how to code on the Google search bar and freecodecamp.org popped up. When I eventually wrote my first hello world I was so excited and knew I would be doing this for a long time. With the help of some online resources and a fellowship in my country, "Tiidelab", I learned how to code!”

Moyinoluwa: “I started coding as a result of my curiosity about how web and mobile applications work. I started learning how to code with 'HTML & CSS' by Jon Duckett. I then attended some coding boot camps by Pearls Africa and Dufuna and I did a lot of self-studying too.”

Sandy: “A few years ago, I was thinking about getting a master's degree in financial engineering. It was something I had stumbled upon and was exploring. According to the prerequisites, experience with at least one programming language or a data science course was required. I began by learning Python from Datacamp, supplementing those lessons with tons of YouTube tutorials. Then, I began applying for boot camps and data science scholarships.”

Q: What do you like about coding?

David: “What I love most about coding is the freedom it gives to build almost anything you want, anywhere, at any time. Another thing I love is the community. There are tons of people uploading free tutorial videos and writing about tech, and there are a lot of people out there who will help you when you are stuck.”

Ihuoma Anosike: “I like the fact that it is challenging and you get to learn something new every day.”

Nuruddeen Sambo: "Coding challenges me to solve complex problems by breaking down the problem and writing lines of code that do different things. It is cool to see everything come together into a full-functioning system that solves a specific problem."

Marvelous: “As a frontend developer, I enjoy seeing what I've created so far. I like the challenges. It makes me think critically. It puts me in a position to solve problems. Coding is never stereotyped, and that gets me excited every time. There are a hundred ways to fix a problem, and that makes me appreciate coding. One other thing coding has taught me is patience.”

Ukaoha: “What I love about coding is the ability to solve real-world problems by just knowing how to code. When you see the stuff you build working and being used by real people, it gives me a sense of purpose.”

Moyinoluwa: “I like the fact I get to think a lot while trying to fix a bug or solve a problem. I feel so smart whenever I am able to overcome a challenge. I also like the fact that I do not work on routine things and I get to work on different cool features that are actually needed and used by businesses and individuals.”

Sandy: “I would say being able to work on exciting projects. There's this feeling that comes with completing a project, sitting back, and saying, "Wow, I did that.”

Q: Do you enjoy technical writing?

Something really cool about these participants is that every single one of them loves writing. This is not common! We have tons of different contributors at Educative Answers and surprisingly, not everyone who does technical writing loves to write. However, technical writing is such a valuable skill in developer roles, that it's essential to feel confident in your writing. 

This group of self-proclaimed writers all have an appreciation for sharing knowledge with other learners.

David: “I enjoy technical writing because, apart from the fact that it's a means of sharing something, it also helps to reinforce my knowledge on those topics.”

Ihuoma Anosike: “ I love technical writing, especially when I'm writing on topics related to web3 or blockchain.”

Nuruddeen Sambo: "Technical writing is something I am passionate about, especially in my quest to democratize access to AI education and developer communities. It allows me to help people solve problems they are facing. Technical writing also gives me the power to put my thoughts into writing, which greatly helps me to better understand concepts or topics."

Marvelous: “ I love reading well-articulated technical articles and have always wanted to write one. So yes! Technical writing solidifies what I've learned about coding and it's a way I can express my knowledge.”

Ukaoha: “I love technical writing, sharing my new-found knowledge, and knowing it will help someone in the future. I always love to offer value to the tech community and technical writing is just one way of doing that!”

Moyinoluwa: “I enjoy technical writing because I find it to be a way to express some of the things I know. I also like to use it as a medium to write resources that I wish had been available when I had needed them, but were not.”

Sandy: “I do enjoy technical writing. I have a bit of a writing background and being able to write about what I have learned or what I am working on has been great.”

Q: What do you envision for your future in tech?

David: “A few of my future goals in tech include becoming an expert in the tech industry, working more on open-source projects, and creating content for the community. I'd also like to work for an international tech company in a diverse environment.”

Ihuoma Anosike: “Currently, I'm in the blockchain space, and one of the things I hope to achieve in this space is to build projects that solve real-world problems using blockchain technology.”

Nuruddeen Sambo: “I plan to pursue a career in the field of artificial intelligence, where I can apply my skills and knowledge to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. In the long term, I hope to become a leader in the field and make significant contributions to the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies.”

Marvelous: “I want to be a world-renowned software developer, offering solutions to problems and helping individuals. In the near future, I want to transfer the skills I have acquired to younger individuals, showing them that anything they set their minds to is possible, and that includes tech.”

Ukaoha: “Going forward I would love to see how I have been able to help society with my knowledge by working on products that excite me.”

Moyinoluwa: “I envision myself as an expert in this field and growing into managerial and leadership roles. I look forward to writing more and taking on speaking engagements. I would also like to explore the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field.”

Sandy: “I see myself as an ML engineer, working on projects that solve real-world problems.”

Want to see their winning Answers? #

How to create a material 3 bottom navigation bar in Flutter by David Odejobi

How to protect against a re-entry attack in Solidity by Ihuoma Anosike

How to install TensorFlow in Jupyter Notebook by Nuruddeen Sambo

How to remove untracked files with git-clean by Marvelous Ejiogu

How to add a logo in React by Ukaoha Chizoba

How to install TensorFlow in Jupyter Notebook by Nuruddeen Sambo

How to find the user’s browser name using JavaScript by Moyinoluwa Adenuga

What is fancy indexing in NumPy? By Sandy Om’Iniabohs

Educative Answers#

We are so proud to have partnered with Adora on her mission to help her community and increase access to learning tools! 

If you are interested in joining Adora and our winners by writing on Educative Answer, we always welcome new contributors. Simply head to our landing page to learn how to get started.