Ryan and Seyoung are incredibly hospitable hosts, not to mention incredible people. The lead-up to Camp was completing a Fundamentals course for Ruby, which was very clear and concise. Once onsite, having a structured schedule in the form of predefined activities like outings and twice daily prepared meals, along with a communal environment, allow for maximum focus and learning.

Ryan is an excellent teacher with a lot of empathy for beginner students. He is extremely patient and completely dedicated to students getting the most out of the bootcamp, going above and beyond in his explanations and making sure you are not just fixing a single bug in isolation, but really deeply understanding the mechanics of Rails apps. I was particularly impressed by how much of the "early" coding issues he remembers and even pre-empts with astounding pattern recognition, which saves students a lot of time in the long run.

Going through one or both courses equips students with just enough Rails to start building their own projects, and Ryan's live support and demos showcasing particular libraries or Rails functionalities contribute to a complete immersion, at the end of which MVPs are presented in demo days and everyone can share their learnings.

Beyond simply shipping apps, I've learned a lot from my interactions at the ranch. Talking openly about a variety of topics with people who share a common learning goal and yet come from such different backgrounds was really eye-opening. In particular, Ryan was so generous with his knowledge on marketing, his own experiences building businesses, and the gamut of philosophical and personal development topics he's spent time pondering.

I cannot overstate how seeing Ryan in action working on his own projects, when not actively helping students, inspired me to grow and become a better, more focused and ambitious version of myself. I initially went in knowing there were certain things I wanted to change about myself, and by the end of it, I truly felt like any previous touchiness, fear of failure, or doubt had been dropped from having experienced low-ego deep work and pure focus vicariously.

I hope to keep cultivating the simplicity and flow state I saw in Ryan within myself in all my future projects and course-correct as needed throughout my learning and building journey. This kind of motivation and surge of energy is not a one-off! It is truly life-changing and inspirational and it comes through completely in Ryan's goodwill for everyone with whom he comes into contact. I left Camp feeling that I had just been indelibly imprinted with so much more capability and potential for excellence, and my level of focus and coding habit continue well after it ended.

Thank you so much for having us, and I hope we get to "re-take" Camp now that we are hopefully a little more seasoned as app builders and as we improve further between now and then, and/or work on your co-working space and still get to bounce ideas with you, if you are open to it!

- Sophia Raji, Camp Cohort #3