Becoming a Software Developer: My EPIC journey to Andela

As a child, my parents always challenged my siblings and me to work hard, and to be very honest in our dealings with other people. To make sure that we understood the importance of honesty, they bought books for us (mostly novels). One that really stuck in my mind was: The Fruit of Honesty… is God’s blessings. I made those lessons part of me and always tried to ensure that the people close to me understand that I place so much value in them.
In all those times, I was aware that I needed more inspiration when it comes to personal values and keeping to them. All of me has always held in high regards, people who have demonstrated great qualities, people who try against all odds to maintain a set standard in their lives. I always wanted to see more anyway.

I discovered Andela in my quest for skills and experience in software development. I had moderate expectations about the kind values I should expect (Having spent all my life in Nigeria, expecting too much will be a step too far). It was on this path that I discovered the EPIC values that drives the company. To be honest, I wanted to write it off as one of those. I took it seriously when I had to study it, as the first module in the Andela HomeStudy.
All of it resonated with me deeply, so much that I had to share most of the pages with the people close to me. It might have also crossed my mind to organize a seminar about it, I have forgotten now. The truth is: these values are deep. And to tell the kind of company Andela is, aspiring andelans are required to learn it all (before they even learn to program).
You might have been wondering: so what is this EPIC value? Well, EPIC is an acronym that stands for E-Excellence, P-Passion, I-Integrity, C-Collaboration.

Excellence

Excellence may mean so many things to different people (Andela has her own definition), to me excellence is about putting in 101% in everything one does. It is about doing the right things at the right times. It is not about not failing in life, it is about how one responds to failures and setbacks.
Passion
Passion is a measure of the degree of the connection between one’s current cause and one’s purpose in life. I believe that for a person to be truly passionate about something, the person must have seen the connection between that thing, and the person’s purpose in life (the greater the connection, the greater the passion). Passion is the fire that ignites a person’s efforts, persistence, and perseverance towards accomplishing the set goals and objectives.

Integrity

Integrity is about being true to oneself. It is about being honest, straightforward, trustworthy and godly. People of integrity always say what they mean and always do what they say. Their ‘Yes’ means yes and ‘no’ means no. It is easy to deal with someone like that because the outcome is ordered and more predictable. Integrity removes unnecessary complications from life.

Collaboration

Someone once said that “All of us is smarter than one of us” and I agree. Collaboration is about being willing to work with other people in accomplishing things. Like the old adage says, “No man is an Island”. Working with people makes life easier because one can leverage the experience and diverse viewpoints of the people around to deliver faster and better.
Andela also cherishes people who have the growth mindset, who know how to build relationships and can easily adapt in environments they find themselves in.
As I continue to aspire towards having a deeper feel of the EPICness of these values by becoming an Andelan myself, I will encourage you to take your time and go through the content at Andela HomeStudy. Why? Well, it is truly epic. Need I say more?