It's late right now, I kind of have a headache, and I am punching out some bits of code before bed.
I am using my 2012 Macbook again. It can be my dedicated development computer even though the lack of screen real estate takes some getting used to. At least I can write some lines in bed before dozing off.
Here's the latest in all its glory. The 3rd Responsive Web Design project - creating a landing page:
https://codepen.io/4nn/full/zXpaoY
I focused mostly on passing the tests first before actually putting some time in to pretty it up tomorrow when I can think straight. I probably won't spend much time on that particular task because I am really itching to get started on the JavaScript. The process I went through was creating what I needed to as I went down the user story list. I think the prettifying part of it would be better/more enjoyable if I wireframed it to at least figure out where to place the tags as opposed to cramming in a design after the fact. I'll do that for the next project, I promise. Either way, I do want to present a somewhat nicer looking page when it's done, so stay tuned.
The first two projects can be found here:
- Tribute Page - https://codepen.io/4nn/full/WWZOxG - It's a basic project and I did some simple CSS to make it look somewhat presentable.
- Survey Form - https://codepen.io/4nn/full/MROQZK - I did the bare minimum in design here; it was an annoying project because I didn't realize you can hit the test button to see where your errors are. I was fumbling through the whole thing just figuring out which user story it was that I screwed up on (most of them were due typos); I spent way too much time on that so I was ready to move on once the test was green-lit.
 |
| Click the goddamn "Tests" button to get the errors! |
Background & History
I actually started this coding journey on April 8th, 2019 so it's day 9 right now. I have been putting in at least 1 hour each day (avg of 2-3 hrs on weekdays so far) and I intend to keep coding everyday until I get a job as an honest to goodness developer.
I'm in my mid-30s now, so you can do the math. I got my feet wet with Angelfire/Geocities and created things on the internet there. Making shit on the web sparks joy. I've always loved and still love video games and technology and this is just an extension of that.
Sometime in the early 90s, my family visited my cousin's house. He showed us this computer thing his dad just got him. He showed us a chatroom and how he was chatting with people from across the world (what's your ASL?). You mean to tell me you can instantly talk to all these people at the same time from around the world? He showed us an ASCII game. I was mesmerized. Since then, I always felt my calling was to be a programmer; someone who can create something out of nothing with these machines. I was probably 9 or 10 years old then.
I started as a CS major in college but switched to Econ and Psychology after a semester (double major to make up for my inadequacies, keep reading). I didn't know WTF was going on in these CS classes and withdrew from them. I was a shy kid and was a very good and self-sufficient student in high school, so it never occurred to me to get some help/tutoring in the subject matter and keep at it. These classes made me feel so stupid. CS was for smart people and I was not as smart as I thought I was. I remember how utterly
crushed I was when I changed majors. It was like a punch in the gut and I fretted about for a long while. I was so sure about CS and thought it was what I was meant to do, but I couldn't grasp it. That insecurity carried on with me for a long time.
After college, I worked in higher ed admin, had a brief stint in online marketing when that was a new up-and-coming field and hated it (my marketing budget was $10 million per year, so that was a lot of pressure for a 25 y/o). I went back to non-profits and education admin again and here I am. All the while, I've dabbled in freelance web design and have some weekend-warrior experience in HTML, CSS, and a teeny bit of PHP then (all the sites I set up were with Wordpress so I had to know enough to customize things). I occasionally thought about delving deeper in coding, but the insecurity always won out.
Why bother wasting your time? You're not going to get it!
About 6 years ago, I started to focus more on my career. I went back to school and got my masters in management, a job change, a promotion, some "prestige" and left the web design to the professionals.
Fast forward to now. For the past 9 months or so, I was at a crossroads. I was agonizing over deciding on whether or not I should go back to school again, but for an EdD this time. I became increasingly aware of the fact that I needed another degree to move up in my career trajectory. People like me were not lucky or well connected. I had to make my own luck and another few letters after my name seemed like the next step. But I already endured grad school while working full time and the thought of having to do it again (but for longer!) made my stomach turn. It meant suffering through a subject I didn't give a shit about to advance in a career that I cared less and less for.
I actually have a cushy job that pays well for what I do and I work in
Prestigious Well Known Place. But it feels so soulless. I'm not miserable at work, but I can't say I am happy, fulfilled, or satisfied in any way here.
Then a few things happened 2 weeks ago that served as a catalyst for change.
At work, I attended a workshop on networking that turned out to be a thinly veiled self-promotional presentation from this local business owner about marketing. While my colleagues seemed annoyed at the presenter, I actually found myself enjoying it because his enthusiasm for his business reminded me about my freelancing days. I remember how much I relished having my own thing and making money from some code and my skills.
Gosh, I miss that.
A few days later while at work, I was complaining to my husband on gchat about work per usual. He made a facetious comment about how hard his day was going as a dig at me. It was a dig because he is an actual programmer who works from home, he sets his own schedule, and earns a huge salary for his trouble. I mean, are you shocked I married one? Trying to live vicariously through him or something...
"I wish I knew how to program," I told him. His response was simply, "You can still learn!" We've had this same interaction many times before. But I mulled over that last exchange for several days after.
Can I still learn? Don't you have to have a natural aptitude for this kind of thing?
So I researched on the internets. I forgot what the exact search phrase was, but I stumbled on a Reddit comment (because of course I did). The commenter was in their 30s, was working some menial job 2 years ago, learned to code from free resources in their spare time and is now a developer making six figures.
I started getting into the black hole of searching "is it possible to learn to code and change careers after the age of 30?" That led me to all sorts of inspiring stories of people from non-traditional careers, of all ages who learned to code and are now working as programmers. The most impactful stories were from those who made the same assumption I did about needing a natural talent for coding, but after
time and
persistence in learning, they made it where they were today. These posts always seem to end with "If I can do it, so can you!"
Fuck it. I am going to do this.
After some research, I settled on FreeCodeCamp and got started right away refreshing myself on HTML, CSS, and learning all the new stuff that developed since I turned away from it years ago.
So I am now doing sort of a
100 day of code where I must code for at least 1 hour per day, by going through a self imposed
coding bootcamp. Eventually, I will move into multiple cycles of 100 day of code and into
non zero day, meaning, there will be no 1 day where I will not be coding for the foreseeable future.
The goal is to complete the FCC full stack certification in 6 months. While I am going through FCC, I will be checking out videos on Lynda.com (I get free access from work!) and going through the 101 and JavaScript parts of the Odin Project (not sure if I want to dedicate time to learning Ruby on Rails yet). I want to explore different materials to see how I learn best. When I am done with the FCC full stack certification at or earlier than the 6 month mark, I may consider enrolling into an actual coding bootcamp. Thereafter, I want to volunteer as a coder through FCC and/or the
TapRoot Foundation to get some experience working in a dev environment. I want to be transitioning to a coding career by April of next year.
I don't remember the last time I was ever this
excited. I am not trapped in my job after all. I have a spring in my step. I feel so optimistic. I feel so free. The internets inspired me. It is possible to learn. It is possible to transition. It takes time, consistency, and persistence.
I am so ready for this.
