Hey peeps! I told you I was going to blog every week and I am keeping my word :-D I am finally starting Free Code Camp in earnest!
I recently read a book: “Life Is So Good.” The true story of George Dawson the grandson of a slave, who finally learned to read at age 98. His story is remarkable and inspiring in so many ways. One of the great takeaways I got out of the book, was his positive frame of mind. George's dad witnessed some horrific things in the early 1900s, but what I loved was the positive quote he would tell George whenever they were experiencing hardships such as a drought on the farm:
“Son, I do believe things are getting better for us!”
I'm not comparing myself to George or his dad at all. I have never experienced hardships like they did. However I love the quote and the way George's dad viewed the world. Ever since getting out of shoeing my life has gotten better and easier in so many ways. When I was learning to code and I got discouraged I would read some Proverbs in the Bible or watch the Will Smith movie: "The Pursuit Of Happiness", to get me in a more positive frame of mind. I love holding true stories in my mind so I can think back on them whenever I feel overwhelmed or discouraged. If you've never read George Dawson's book I highly recommend it!
On another note, I have to admit I always used to be a little envious of the people who would email me and say that their parents were paying for them to go to a coding bootcamp. I knew if given the chance I would have learned way faster in a bootcamp setting, and wished I could have had that opportunity to go. What’s amazing though is now with Free Code Camp and their online chat room. Everyone now has virtually a $15K coding bootcamp simply by going to Free Code Camp for free!
Since starting Free Code Camp this week, I can’t believe how much I have learned and how awesome the program is. I didn't get stuck or need to ask anyone for help because I have a decent amount of experience with Css. Most of the beginning course challenges are using Html and Css. It's reassuring to know that I can ask for help if I need to!
If you haven’t started the course yet, DON'T delay!!! I am shocked at how much easier it is to learn to code and actually get a job after the training. This experience is what reminded me of George Dawson's dad's quote. I thought to myself about beginner's who are just starting out on the path of learning to code: "Yes, I do believe things are getting better!"
Okay, enough chatting I need to get back to studying, I just got the kiddos to finally fall asleep! I’m burning the midnight oil studying at night and on the weekends. My life right now is pretty much work, family time, code, repeat. That's recursion in a nutshell... :-)
P.S. If you are in this neck of the woods, come on by and see me give a little presentation at Arlington Ruby on February 11th!
P.S.S. I thought I'd show you my progress on Free Code Camp so far:
