git add rōnin git commit -m "adding an exciting change" git push

It is officially the penultimate day of the precourse. Today has been eerily quiet as I almost robotically run errands, prepare food in bulk and clean the apartment in order to try and ready myself for the first of 12 grueling weeks to come. Large quantity of coffee in stock? Check. Living conditions and work space acceptable? Check. Valerian Root and melatonin to help me go to sleep when my brain feels like a Tasmanian devil on crack? Check. Throughout the rest of day I make it a goal to read as much of The Well-Grounded Rubyist as possible, stopping occasionally to fold a load of laundry, play with my dogs or do a bit of exercise. On the surface I am calm, collected. Beneath, there is a shift, barely noticeable yet somehow I know it's big.

Things are about to change even more than they already have, whether I'm ready or not. It's the first day of school all over again. I'm nervous, but more excited. The acquaintances I've made will likely become solidified as friendships, and I will be letting strangers into my home through a small camera embedded in my computer monitor. Everything from my early morning zombie face to my mood-matching desktop backgrounds and not-yet-refactored code will be revealed -- don't even get me started on my evolving attire which will inevitably start and end with pajamas of varying levels of frumpiness.

On the upside, I am greatly anticipating an environment that is both humbling and highly collaborative. Just from the one month of participating in the precourse and getting to know some people, I have already been thoroughly impressed by the patience, intelligence, creativity and friendliness of my peers. I am honored to be surrounded by such inspiring people and I know we are all in for some amazing times. We all come from different backgrounds, but our overlapping passion for learning and writing code is more than enough to unite us.

So here is to the end of the prologue, and the beginning of Chapter 1.