Stereotype threat refers to people potentially re-affirming a negative stereotype of themselves. I have personally experienced this once while applying to several programming schools around the country.

A very famous Bootcamp in New York among them did a number on me. I was rejected. Not once, not twice, but three times in a roll. I really wanted to get in. You see by that point I had been self-studying Ruby and Rails for around six months and was ready to take it to the next level. The admisions gods thought otherwise.

Right before that last rejection email I was on a roll about learning and was making great progress all by myself. That all came to a screaching stop then. Feelings of being too old, too black, and with a beard to boot took hold. I put the books down, summitted my last git commits and hung the gloves.

What was he point I thought. I will never make it in this business.

And so I took an almost six month absense and found refuge in my yoga practice which despite the fact that I may not be the most bendy, she did not judge me. Ever. All that she required of me was that came visit her consistently. If I did that I would get what I put in.

Suddenly, one day, I got the urge to come back. I still don’t where it came from. I just know that I needed to. That day I dusted off my terminal and started my beloved Vim. At that point I had forgotten everything. I had to learn from scratch even how to navigate around the screen. That’s when I realized how far I had come before. I was bent in not letting happen again. Nobody would disuade me from reaching my goals. Ever again.

That’s when I applied to DBC.

Needeeless to say I was completely disbelieve. I may or may still not gotten over it completely. Nevertheless, I intend on taking this opportunity to raise awareness to this problem; to be of help and support others that may be going through similar road blocks.