We've had our first dropouts this week.
That's not true, we had some the first day- but 4 never showed up. Origin Code Academy's founder Jeff said that coming here is a big change and some people blink when it looks them in the face.
The student that left yesterday took the wind out of our sails. He was amiable, funny, and seemed like he was giving up a lot to come here. In the short time we've had so far we've all built some sort of camaraderie, and losing a new developer friend bummed us out for much of the day.
Some of us did our best to convince him to stay- he was constantly worrying aloud about how to keep up, or how he felt stagnant in what he had learned. The staff here was also supportive, talking to him whenever he requested it. Hopefully he comes back during the next cohort, as we were told that the support of being successful with Origin doesn't necessarily stop if you leave early.
(Edit- I'll leave this up, but I've found out that the student that I'm about to talk about will return to Origin on its next cohort.)
The other we lost student was quieter, and we didn't get to know him as well, which could have been our fault, but he was also ducking out the lectures were done and supposedly working on his own at home. I was going to make it a point to talk to him more, but he officially left today.
When I say we lost them, I do mean it as a loss. Two dropouts mean two fewer brains to pick once we've all leveled up a bit. It means a less diverse range of voices to contribute to mob programming and group projects. To showcase our students better, I'll start doing mini-interviews with them so readers can know what sort of backgrounds we all have. Check this blog for more tomorrow.