I don't know how anyone has the energy to write code for 50+ hours a week for a whole year. Surely you have some burn out with that as your base-line cadence.
I have no doubt some younger people, competitive alpha minds would take this in their stride, but I worry this culture of hyper competitiveness permeates into employment. When this stuff is accepted as 'work ethic' and normalized you tilt toward what some asian cultures are experiencing today - producing overworked unhappy individuals.
Personally I don't think it's great to brag about how hard you work. I don't think it's ok to be proud of bootcamps (although 42 School explicitly says it's not a boot camp which is a little Orwellian). People should be proud of being healthy, getting enough sleep, eating well, having social interactions, learning, cultivating well balanced meaningful lives.
To truly be a school of the 21st century we need to do away with this culture of stress. It's killing the best of us.
I agree with this sentiment so damn much. When I joined the school, I was very afraid that such a rhythm would lead me to a fast burnout.
Thankfully, there's no pressure to do any kind of crazy hours. The school is open 24/7, and there are no deadlines for projects or whatever. This is a two edged sword: on one hand, there's an incentive to stay at school as long as possible, and put in some crazy hours. On the other side, though, it creates a lot of flexibility for student. If you need to take a breather, you can totally put in less hours, or even totally stop going for a while. If you need to do some odd hours, like working a night schedule, that's also possible.
Of course, I have put in some 50+hr in a week sometimes,while hacking away on a project. But i have also clocked 25hr some weeks. This absolute flexibility is a real stress relief.
I have no doubt some younger people, competitive alpha minds would take this in their stride, but I worry this culture of hyper competitiveness permeates into employment. When this stuff is accepted as 'work ethic' and normalized you tilt toward what some asian cultures are experiencing today - producing overworked unhappy individuals.
Personally I don't think it's great to brag about how hard you work. I don't think it's ok to be proud of bootcamps (although 42 School explicitly says it's not a boot camp which is a little Orwellian). People should be proud of being healthy, getting enough sleep, eating well, having social interactions, learning, cultivating well balanced meaningful lives.
To truly be a school of the 21st century we need to do away with this culture of stress. It's killing the best of us.