We’ve come a long way in the first two weeks.

We started out small, only coding in Ruby on the command line. Our first assignment was to write a small program to keep track of pets for a humane society. We used a concept called pair-programming, and I got to work with Cara Heacock on this assignment.

We read in pet information from the user and stored it in an array so we could search and update stored values. It was a good first program to recall the skills we had learned during our prework.

Wednesday, we hit our first wall. Instructor Sumeet Jain wanted us to score a game of bowling. Matt Hovanec and I had a really hard time figuring out what classes we needed. It was also the first program we tried to write using RSPEC and Test Driven Development, where you write a series of small tests and then write the code needed to pass those tests.

We ended up having such a hard time with the assignment that we had to skip testing and just try to get it working. This was by far the hardest program we had during the week, but we learned a lot even though we weren’t completely successful.

Then it clicked. Our homework on Thursday was to write a stock portfolio application. We continued our Test Driven Development, and this time it just made sense. I partnered with Kaitlyn Hovanec for this assignment. We were able to cruise through the assignment so quickly our instructor had to come up with more features for us to work on. It was an awesome feeling.

To wrap up the first week, we got a surprise lecture about how we should keep up our physical appearance. Sumeet informed us that we would be implementing a business casual dress code. The entire class had panicked looks on their faces.

Luckily, he was joking. He couldn’t even keep a straight face through the whole thing. We ended up getting our awesome new hoodies and eating some custom eCreamery ice cream the folks at Interface School sent over. All the flavors were named after development skills—it was pretty cool.

Omaha Code School students enjoy treats from eCreamery in their new OCS hoodies. 

Our second week brought many challenges. We switched from command line to web-based projects. To get our websites up and running, we used a gem called Sinatra. Figuring out routes and embedded ruby was difficult at first, but we’re getting the hang of it.

We also started to learn about APIs. If you’re unfamiliar with that term, it stands for Application Programming Interface. Essentially, some developers offer open communication channels to look up information online. Common APIs include stock quotes and weather information.

We used a service from themoviedb.org to build our own movie website. We built web pages on demand with the information retrieved through the API. This was the first project I could really show off to friends and family.

The prework we did before class really did help us get off on the right foot, even though we didn’t exactly know what we were doing at the time.

I think there is a pretty mixed bag as far as difficulty rating. I’m learning a lot of new things and it’s been fairly easy for me. But I am relying a lot on my experiences from coding in college to put the pieces together.

Classmates that don’t have that background take a little longer to get it, but Sumeet is really good about giving us opportunities to ask questions and get help.

Thursday night Sumeet decided that we needed a little break. We walked down to Saints Pub and grabbed some drinks and appetizers. It was a great opportunity to just talk and get to know each other. Fellow students Johnathon Lueth, Lochlan Hehr, Brandon Norris, Abby Jones and I ended up staying pretty late. It was a good break from the grind of class and good to get to hear stories that we wouldn’t hear from each other in class.

Overall, the class is starting to wear on us a little bit, but we aren’t to the point of exhaustion. We are learning a lot very quickly and that eventually will overwhelm your brain. Not having class on weekends is going to save us mentally going forward.

On Friday from 4:30-7:30 p.m., Omaha Code School is hosting an open house in our space at Midtown Crossing—200 S. 31st Ave., Suite 4107. It is an opportunity for our school to introduce ourselves to the community and answer any questions that people have. I will be there and would love the chance to meet you.

The first two weeks have come and gone. We have learned a lot and the firehose isn’t letting up any time soon. Make sure you’re following along on my blog and feel free to ask me any questions you might have onTwitter.

Want to get in contact with Andy? Tweet at him at @andyvondohren.

Omaha’s first code school launches next week and Silicon Prairie News would love to be at Omaha Code School every day from Day 1 on Feb. 24 to graduation May 16. But we can’t. Luckily, we’ve still got the inside story.

Andy von Dohren, one of the School’s 14 students, is blogging about his experience on his own site, Code School Adventures, and will be sharing some of his stories for SPN’s audience every other week. He isn’t a stranger to tech—he quit his job as an information security analyst for Mutual of Omaha to start Code School, but is new to coding. He won’t be going far, as Omaha Code School is down the block from Mutual of Omaha at Midtown Crossing. Here’s his first post.

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Omaha Code School is the first course of its kind in Omaha.

There are lots of similar courses in larger cities across the nation, such as New York and San Francisco, where our instructor, Sumeet Jain, lived and taught a similar course.

After he moved to Omaha, he and his cousin saw an opportunity to do something similar here. They founded Omaha Code School last fall and began accepting applications. There were more than 70 applicants from the U.S. and across the world. Eventually the applicant pool was whittled down to 14—the inaugural class.

When I tell people I’m attending Omaha Code School, I get a lot of questions. So here’s an attempt to answer them. If you have others, let me know on Twitter @AndyvonDohren and I’ll try to answer them for you.

What is Omaha Code School?

Omaha Code School is an intensive 12-week program that intends to teach 14 willing students the technical skills needed to land a job in web development. Intensive is kind of an understatement in this case. The class is 7 days a week, for 8-10 hours a day. Boot camp style.

I haven’t actually started. It’s hard to answer what something is when you haven’t seen or experienced it for yourself.

What will you be learning?

We’ll learn plenty, but it all falls into two categories: soft skills and hard skills. Hard skills are the actual technologies—things like HTML5, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, JQuery and many more. More important are the soft skills like test-driven development, GIT, version control and pair programming, among others. To sum up, we are going to learn more in 12 weeks than any other period of time in our lives.

What did you do before you signed up?

I was an information security analyst at Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company. The work was good and I felt like I made a difference. I worked with identity management systems to make sure everyone had access to what they needed, but nothing more. I worked there for almost six years.

Why now?

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Before you say otherwise, it is for me. I’m 29, married and own a home. The next logical life event is to have children. Once that happens, quitting your job and going 12 weeks without pay won’t be an option.

Do you know who you will be working with?

No. I have never met anyone involved with this program before. That’s part of why it’s awesome—I will get to grow my network. They even have a group of people put together to help mentor the students as they progress through the course. We may occasionally go on a “field trip” to meet with people in the industry and learn from their experience.

My first blog post was just three weeks ago. In that time, I have 22 new followers on Twitter, 1,074 blog views, an interview request and numerous retweets and shares. Most of these numbers represent people I have never met before. I’m not too worried about not knowing anybody. The people I have interacted with so far are awesome and I know it’s just going to get better.

What happens after the class is over?

That is the question. There is no job at the end of the horizon waiting for us, no interviews lined up and no idea of what is waiting for us. This is seriously scary. I don’t do things without knowing what’s next. I have planned out to this point in my life and I don’t have any regrets. All I know is that I couldn’t stop thinking that this is what I am supposed to do. Hopefully there will be an opportunity waiting for me on the other side.

What has surprised you so far?

The amount of support my classmates and I have received so far is surprising. Friends and family are on board. Omaha Code School has helped make connections for those of us who need help paying the tuition cost. They’re even trying to get us cheap MacBooks for class.

What still needs to be done?

We have homework already. There are various web tutorials and readings we need to complete before class begins. This way we can gloss over some of the basics and concentrate on learning new skills. We have already been working for a couple weeks, but will have spent approximately 55 hours to complete everything. Not a small task.

I’m excited to see what comes next. I guarantee it’s going to be an adventure.

Want to get in contact with Andy? Tweet at him at @andyvondohren.

Check out Omaha Code School’s space on Facebook.