The first time I ever heard the word boot camp, I wondered why any human would have chosen to use the two words together. Another thing that got me wondering about the word was that it had nothing to do with what I had thought initially when I heard the word (oh, please don’t ask what I thought)

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Let me tell you a story about my first encounter with the actual practice of the word Boot-camp. It was sometime right after my fourth year in my college days when a friend shared a flyer with me; it was a call for application for young women who were passionate changemakers and wanted to do more to apply for a 3-day bootcamp. Aha! I exclaimed excitedly; I finally would get the opportunity to be at a bootcamp to see what it was all about.

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I looked forward to that weekend with so much enthusiasm but then I was super disappointed. Why you may ask. Oh, trust me, it had nothing to do with the training and content delivered – infact that was superb (I still have my notes) and the impact…let’s not speak about that here because arising from that bootcamp, I dared some impossible things and I got phenomenal results. I had just one expectation coming in for the bootcamp – to have fun (remember I said I had assumed what the meaning of bootcamp was). I was stressed beyond comprehension; not like I have never been stressed like that but I had not mentally prepared for this. I had no idea that bootcamps were this intensive and rigorous. So why call it bootcamp?

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A few months down the line another friend randomly sends me a flyer for a 7-day bootcamp to learn to use Canva. My experience from the previous bootcamp had prepared me (little did I know) so by the time I was sent the text shortlisting me as a participant, I was more than ready to have the best out of the bootcamp. Guess what? If you thought I had a better experience this second bootcamp, then you are absolutely correct. I had friends from within the bootcamp who were first timers and complained all through. They even had an attitude towards me for not complaining as often as they did and some of them termed it ‘pretending; but they didn’t know that I had my fair share a couple of months before.

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The truth is, no one and nothing really prepares you for the rigors of being fully involved in a bootcamp but that’s why I have written this piece. 

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I told you all of that story to tell you these;

• Bootcamps are a gathering for intensive training in a given subject matter (fun activities might be included to balance things out but it isn’t all about fun although the learning in itself should be infused with fun). So if you signed up to participate in a bootcamp, please keep this advice in your left breast pocket as you may need it, brace up to go through the process diligently because it will be intense
• Bootcamps are draining (hearty laughter). I know you didn’t think I was going to write that but you see that’s the truth. To get the best from a bootcamp the only thing that would not be required from you is your BLOOD. You read that right. Your time (full commitment and continuous participation plus completion of tasks given), financial resources (if you are attending a bootcamp that stipends aren’t given) and stomach infrastructure (some bootcamps can take the whole day for training and provision is probably made for only breakfast, to assimilate well, you may need to make arrangements for your meals)
• The impact from bootcamps over the years cannot be ignored so it is worth every penny spent and every stress endured. Determine to go the long haul because there is a great reward at the end of the tunnel of that bootcamp you are enrolled in or intend to enroll in. 
• There will be dropouts along the way no matter how interesting the bootcamp is or the incentives given but make up your mind to not be a part of the drop-out figure. How to do this is to prepare ahead for the bootcamp. Check the organization out, read what their alumni have to say, read about how previous cohorts were trained and what their routine was like and start to prepare like it. 
• It is called Bootcamp because it is the only word that connotes the definition of the activities that go on during this period

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Bootcamps have over the years served as a training ground for many young people – helping them discover their true passion, honing their skills to earning capacity and improving their income ability. For these reasons and many more, Pledges a non-profit organization headquartered in the United States of America embraced the opportunity to help more young people become better versions of themselves and be useful contributors to the society.

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At the end of 2021, Pledges birth the bootcamp initiative and immediately deployed tools to set things in motion to impact young people across the world. Today, over five (5) bootcamps have been signed up, receiving varying amounts of grants to cater for the capacity of their cohorts with an expected outcome of impacting thousands of people. 

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Participants at the various bootcamps (who are in underserved communities and cannot afford this payment for themselves) upon completion of their bootcamp and a consequent successful job placement, after a period of time are expected to return the gesture by sponsoring at least one student for the bootcamp. Bootcamps that meet the desired results, will get more funding to train more people.  

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Have you signed up to receive funding from us yet if you run a bootcamp? Click here to see the requirement and register http://bit.ly/PledgesEOI.

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Cheers 

Sharon