DEV Community: Chelsea Wetzel

How to Deal with "Baby Feelings"

Chelsea Wetzel — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 21:28:32 +0000

Let's get real

You know that feeling when you walk into a new place for the first time? That feeling of "oh no, what am I doing here...I certainly don't belong here?!" It's an odd feeling of both excitement and fear. If you have felt this way, or currently feel this way, I am here to tell you...SAME! I am sitting here typing this post today because I want to expose myself and say...I have felt this way, I do feel this way, and here are some tips on how to deal with these feelings - not get rid of them (because I would argue that these feelings are good ones), but just to simply...deal with it!

Just breathe

Okay, here is tip number one on how to deal with these feelings, that for the sake of fun, I will call "baby feelings" because you simply feel like a baby...helpless, can't express yourself correctly, kinda lost in the world. This tip may sound silly but just breathe. Take a moment, and calm down. It may be overwhelming right now, but just think about where you will be a month or even a year from now. If you just calm down and breathe, for now, I can promise you will be more productive and ready to face the day.

Visualize your day

Before starting my new job (yes, I just started a new job, which is part of the reason why I too am dealing with baby feelings) I chatted with another developer friend of mine about his day and what he does to stay so motivated and productive. I met with him in the first place because it always seems like he has his life together. He assured me that, even though what I see online seems that way, the ones who you look up to are not always as perfect as they may seem. But he also told me another very helpful tip, and that was to visualize your day. He expressed how he does this every morning. All you have to do is sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and visualize your day. Think about the plans you have, any problems you may run into, the meetings you have scheduled. He expressed to me that this helps him (and now me) think of any problems that could arise and avoid them, or at least prepare for them before they happen. While doing this, be sure to write down anything that comes to mind - whether that's solutions to those problems you can foresee or just some encouraging words that you know you will need before you hop in a big meeting.

Define your fears

Okay, I know this sounds kinda crazy. Normally, people tell you to define your goals, and not your fears...but I am here to tell you the opposite. I recently watched a Ted Talk by Tim Ferriss (one of the many people I look up to) where he talked about "defining your fears instead of your goals." This also ties into what I was saying in the paragraph above, if you expect the fears or troubles that you might have during the day, you can avoid them, or at least expect them. This almost gives you the superpower of expecting the unexpected - because you will be expecting it! The technique is fairly simple...

define your fears (write them down if you would like)
define the worst outcome if those fears do come true
define what you could do to avoid these fears

For me, this has worked tremendously in my own life, it really gives you the power instead of your fear.

Make your decisions - and don't overthink them

Ever since I can remember I have always been an indecisive person. I can never decide what clothes to wear, what nail polish color I want, or what flavor of ice cream I should eat. Decisions are hard, and I am definitely not going to be the one to tell you that they aren't (especially because I have trouble even making simple ones). But if there is one thing I have learned over the years of battling with my own indecisiveness, it's that when you make a decision, stick with it! Now, I am not saying that you shouldn't think about your decision, I am just saying that once you have thought about it, make the decision and do it! Do you want to ask your boss for a raise? Do it! Do you want to say something during a meeting that you've been too shy to say? Do it! Do you want to order mint chocolate chip ice cream instead of your "regular order?" Do it! Anyway, I think you get my point...just do it!

Thank you all so much for reading! If you wouldn't mind pressing that little ❤️ icon on the side of the page that would be much appreciated 🤗 Also, please feel free to comment with any tips that you have used to deal with your own "baby feelings."

5 Steps to a Non-boring Standup Meeting

Chelsea Wetzel — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 23:49:52 +0000

I think all of us have been in a meeting before that seems to go on for an eternity. Over the past year I have learned a lot about hosting standup meetings, and I am here to tell you all the advice that you need to have a non-boring standup meeting…keep reading!

1. Keep it brief

There are days when your team may be in a talkative mood, but during my time hosting standup meetings I find that most the time it’s the beginning of the day and people are ready to get started on their work, or it is the end of the day and people are exhausted from their work. Keeping your meetings brief will make all your teammates/employees happy!

2. Have a plan

Being unprepared is no fun, neither for the person presenting or for the person listening. Making sure that you have an agenda for your meetings will make everyone feel at ease, organized, and competent. If you have your meetings at the beginning of the day, going over the schedule for the day during your meetings will make your whole team feel more prepared. If you have your meetings at the end of the day, try asking all your team members what they gotten accomplished.

3. Have some fun

Having some fun at your meetings, every once in awhile, will bring big payoff. This will make you seem more relatable and approachable. I do this by playing games occasionally or just chatting about something that is not work/school related during our meetings. If there is someone new in your team, I would suggest doing a fun icebreaker game (or just really the cheesiest thing you can think of). Even though this may be a bit awkward, it will help everyone feel like they are a part of the team and let them know that you are not afraid to have some fun.

4. Care for one another

This may sound like a no-brainer, but sometimes just asking simple questions to everyone like, “how was your day” or “do you need any help on X project” might be a good nudge towards teamwork. Lending help or giving advice when needed can really help build trust within a team and make everyone more comfortable with each other. I find that this also brings a sense of vulnerability. Even just caring about how someone answers “how was your day” is so important when trying to build trust in a team.

5. Challenge each other

Do you have a teammate/employee that has been wanting to read a particular book for over a year? Maybe someone who has been meaning to make a new recipe for a family dinner? Challenge each other to do those things! Encouraging one another to do the things in life that they have been putting off or “too busy for.” This is a great tool for helping everyone in your team learn and grow without feeling like they are taking time away from work or school.

Thank you for reading my post and I hope that this advice helps you and your team. Go out there and host some very non-boring standup meetings!

How to Make a Fun AND Informational Notion Document

Chelsea Wetzel — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 23:07:05 +0000

We all know how most documents are...boring! 🥱 Most documents I receive I end up skimming through the pages (and I know most of you do too, I see you!), but let's change that. Let's make a document that you actually want to read!

Step 1: Make a Notion Account 👓

This is fairly simple. All you have to do is put in your email and it's done! Just go to Notions website and create an account to get started.

Step 2: Create a Blank Document 📄

To create a blank document all you need to do is press the little + symbol next to word that says "PRIVATE" on the sidebar. If you want to make this a shared document that another Notion user can contribute to, then you can do that after you create your document. Simply press the "Share" button in the top right corner, then enter your fellow Notion users email. This will automatically move your document to the "SHARED" category on your sidebar. However, for this demonstration, I am choosing to keep my document private (meaning no other user can contribute).

Create a blank document 👇

If you choose to make this a shared document 👯‍♀️

Step 3: Use a Friendly Title 🤗

When students, coworkers, or anyone on the web look at this Notion document you want them to be reminded that this is a fun and friendly place to be. Even if you are only creating this document for yourself, you are going to want to be reminded that this is a happy place to put all your thoughts. I always try and make my title fun and spunky to get readers attention (and lots of emojis), and then focus on making my subtitle more descriptive. To do this just start typing where your cursor is blinking. If you would like to add an emoji, click on the button that says "add icon." There are also other options to spice up your document such as adding a cover photo. Can't think of a spunky title? Here are a few ideas...

Welcome Students of Class 2023! 🎉
A Perfect Place for All Your Thoughts ☁️
So Glad You Are Here! 🥳
Welcome back, keep up the hard work! 🤩

How to put a title and an emoji 👇

Here is an example of an eye catching title with a descriptive subtitle (and a little inspirational quote in between)👇

Step 5: Make Notes for a User to Navigate Better 🗺

People using your Notion document may have never used Notion before. The first time I used Notion I did not really know what I was doing or how to navigate through any documents I was given. When I created my first Notion document I wrote little notes and tips for anyone navigating through my document (even if it was just to describe what they were looking at). I also like to put any descriptive text in a bold color such as red or purple to help draw someones attention. Here are so examples...

Step 6: Don't Forget to Have Fun 🤪

My last and final step for you is to make sure that there are fun pieces in your document (even if they are somewhat hidden). This will keep readers engaged and actually make someone want to read your document. We all know that documents are usually boring and not fun to read, so let's change that! Here are some fun things I "hid" in my document that I made for my students 🤫

Okay, this one wasn't so hidden, I had a whole page dedicated to games that my students could play (they were still educational though) 😉

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you can now create your very own fun AND informational Notion document! Together, let's change the world of boring documents 🤗

5 Things I Learned in Labs at Lambda School

Chelsea Wetzel — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 01:16:37 +0000

1. Let people choose what they want to work on 👀

When you are working on a team, it is easy to just assign tasks to other teammates and move on. But next time, instead of assigning, just ask! At the beginning of each day my Labs team would get into a video call and talk about what goal(s) we had for ourselves, then we would put these goals on our Trello board and get to work. I love how our Project Lead asked instead of assigned, this allowed us to pick our own path and do what we felt comfortable with. Everyone has different strengths, and helping people utilize those strengths is so important!

2. How to properly create a Pull Request 💻

I am still not an expert at creating Pull Requests, but I can definitely say that Labs helped me level up my PR skills. To demonstrate this, here are the before and after pictures 👇 The first one is before Labs, where you can clearly see I have no reviewer, no description, and the title is just my name. In the second, I have lots of reviewers, a good description, and a descriptive title. I would say that I am happy with these improvements and I plan to grow and learn more about how to properly communicate with a team through Pull Requests.

3. Communication is key 🔑

Just as I said in Step #1, everyone has their own strengths, but we also have our weaknesses. If another member on your team has conflicting ideas of how something should be implemented, it can be difficult to work through this. The best thing to do is communicate! Communicating with your team is so important, whether or not it's to discuss an issue, communication should be happening at all times. Especially when you are...

Implementing something new
Have a question
Just need a second opinion

Communicating through every step of the way, will make your team stronger 💪

4. Don't forget to leave comments in your code! 📝

There is a big difference between "commented out code" and "comments in your code." Leaving the correct kind of comments in your code, describing to others what you have done, can play a big part in Step #3. When a team member wants to add onto some code that you have written, you do not want them to be scratching their head and whispering to themselves, "what the heck is going on here?!" You want them to know exactly what everything is doing and why. This also lessons the amount of time a feature will take, because your teammates will not have to wait on you to explain your code before moving on. To demonstrate, here are some comments that I left in my code for my teammates (or myself in the future) 👇

// this adds a new goal progress
router.post('/', (req, res) => {
  const gp = req.body;

  GoalProgress.addGoalProgress(gp)
    .then(() => {
      res.status(201).json({ message: 'Goal Progress added successfully' });
    })
    .catch((err) => {
      res
        .status(500)
        .json({ message: 'Sorry, could not add Goal Progress', err });
    });
});

// this gets a goal progress by profile id
router.get('/profile/:profileId', (req, res) => {
  const { profileId } = req.params;
  GoalProgress.findGoalProgressByProfileId(profileId)
    .then((goalprogress) => {
      if (goalprogress.length > 0) {
        res.status(200).json(goalprogress);
      } else {
        res
          .status(404)
          .json({ message: 'Sorry, could not find user with given id' });
      }
    })
    .catch((err) => {
      res.status(500).json({
        error: err.message,
      });
    });
});

5. How to answer interview questions 🤔

Throughout Labs it was required that we take a small series of interviews, both behavioral and technical. We also had to answer some mock interview questions with our Project Leader every Friday. This seemed nerve wrecking at the time, but now I realize how beneficial it was. Knowing how to answer, or even how to think about your answer, can be difficult! Going into an interview can be scary, but at least now I will feel like I have done it before when I go into a real one.

Thank you for reading about 5 things that I have learned during Labs at Lambda School! Please feel free to leave a comment below about new things that you have been learning 🧠 I would love to hear all about them!

5 Tips to Stay Focused While Learning How to Code

Chelsea Wetzel — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 16:31:03 +0000

Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you try, you just can't focus? In a world full of distractions it can be easy to feel this way. Here are 5 tips and tricks, I have found useful, to stay on task while I learned how to code...

1. Make a todo list and stick to it! 📝

Sure, sure you have probably heard this before, but hear me out! Making a todo list and sticking to it can be so helpful for keeping you from getting distracted. Thinking about scrolling through Twitter? Nope, not on your todo list. But you know what is on that todo list... finishing that coding tutorial you were watching last week! To avoid getting distracted, I find that putting things in the correct order of how you want to do them helps as well. This way, there is no excuse for "coming back and doing it later." Just make sure that you keep checking your list and cross off the items you have already done. Checking off those tasks and seeing your list have no more "todos" at the end of the day feels sooo satisfying!

2. Break down a problem to make it smaller 🐁

It can be easy to get stuck and feel overwhelmed by a problem, especially when first learning how to code. During my time at Lambda School they taught us an acronym for breaking down big problems. This acronym is called UPER, it stands for Understand, Plan, Execute, and Re-evaluate. This is based off of the popular technique called "Polya's Problem Solving Process." This technique helped me be able to break down large and overwhelming problems into smaller, less intimidating tasks.

3. Take a break 💆‍♀️

You may be thinking, aren't I supposed to be focusing? Yes, but taking a break can help you focus! Remember how we just talked about breaking down complicated problems? Well, those complicated problems can be very stressful and tire out our brain. Taking a break when you are done solving a problem, or even in the middle of solving a problem, acts as a good refresher. While you take a break I recommend closing all electronic devices and don't think about your code! Here are some, not so serious, things you can do during a break to get your mind off your code...

take a walk (especially with a furry friend)
eat a snack
workout or do some yoga
chat with a friend
do a crossword puzzle
read a book
drink a big glass of water
talk into a fan and see how funny you sound
color in a coloring book
learn how to make origami
go outside and sit in the sun

4. Listen to music 🎧

Listening to music while coding can put you into an unexplainable head space. I prefer to listen to music without words while I code, but if you can listen to music with words, more power to you! I will link two of my favorite lofi playlists below so that you can enjoy sinking into that hyper-focused head space.

5. Take notes 📒

Taking notes is a classic way to stay focused. This can also help you go back and re-evaluate the things that you have already learned. I find that taking notes (especially during a long lecture or coding tutorial) helps me keep my attention on the speaker rather than getting distracted. My favorite way of taking notes is with a regular notepad and some colorful pens, but there are so many other ways, including online, to take notes. Here are a few...

Thank you all so much for reading my tips and tricks to stay focused 💪 Please feel free to comment and discuss some ways that you like to stay focused, I would love to hear them and use them!

Beginners Guide: The Labs Experience at Lambda School 🧪

Chelsea Wetzel — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 22:24:07 +0000

🤔 What is Labs and Why Should I be Interested?
"Labs" at Lambda School is a 2 month experience that has been put in place to help students gain real world experience. Lambda does this by allowing a group of remote developers to collaborate on a team and work on a real application with real stakeholders. Yes, you read that right, real stakeholders!

🧬 What is the Project About?

Okay, okay...so now that you sorta know what Labs at Lambda is all about, let's get into the good stuff! I am currently working on a team of 6 amazing remote developers on an application called "SaverLife." SaverLife is a nonprofit company with a goal of helping people save money in a smart and intuitive way. With SaverLife, it's time to say goodbye to budgeting apps that take hours to comprehend and plan for. SaverLife simply takes your bank account info and predicts a budget, personalized for you, based off your past transactions.

🔬 Technical Concerns.

Sure, this all sounds great in theory, but any team is going to have concerns and questions about their application. Our team specifically had a lot of questions for our stakeholders. Lucky for us, we were able to have our amazing "Team Lead" (who acts as a project manager) ask questions to our stakeholder right away to clear up some confusion about the app. Here is a list of some questions we had:

What are the main must haves for the app? Whether that be a general theme for the app, or naming conventions we need to follow.
What are some things you want us to avoid for the app?
Will we need to do any onboarding for users?
When will we have access to the database and in what form will it be in?

📝 Planning Our Product.

At the beginning of our Labs journey we were given something called a "roadmap." This is basically a todo list of tasks that should be checked off for our SaverLife product. In order to better accomplish these tasks, our team decided to break them down into smaller, less vague, tasks and divide them up among the team using Trello. I will put some screenshots of our Trello cards below 👇

💪 Challenges We Have Overcome.

During Labs there have been many uncertainties, but as a team we have worked hard to overcome them. Here are some challenges we have faced and overcome:

Not receiving access to the database.
Being given vague instructions.
Managing our time between working on our application and other Labs duties.

💰 Where is Our Application Now?

Currently, our team has decided to create a prototype of the SaverLife app. We have many ideas about what components we should implement, we even started building some out! Here is a picture walkthrough of our app in it's current state (mobile first) 👇

Home Page (before login)

Home Page "How It Works" Section

Login Page

Home Page (after login)

Progress Page (after login)

👯‍♀️ Connect with The Team.

Throughout this post I have talked a lot about the amazing team of remote developers that I am working with. Our team has overcome many battles together and I am proud to be working with a strong group of both Web Developers and Data Scientists. Well, here they are...

👨‍🔬 Data Scientists

Alex Pakalniskis - LinkedIn
Michel Laporte - LinkedIn

💻 Web Developers

Christina Harris - LinkedIn
Victoria Topham - LinkedIn
Loc Giang - LinkedIn
Me, Chelsea Wetzel - LinkedIn

How to Manage Imposter Syndrome 🎭

Chelsea Wetzel — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 01:11:45 +0000

🤔 What is Imposter Syndrome?

I think all of us have heard the term "imposter syndrome" once or twice throughout our lives. Maybe you don't know this term, but I can promise you that you have been a culprit of imposter syndrome yourself. You know that feeling that you get when you walk into an office full of people in fancy clothes, and you get this voice in your head that says, "you don't belong here, people are going to find out that you are a fake." Maybe you experienced this as a kid when you were getting back your report card, and when your friends asked you how you did, you responded with "oh, not very well" even though you made the honor roll.

🥰 Others Feel This Way

"Imposter syndrome" is a phrase that I did not hear until I entered the developer world, but it is a feeling that I have experienced multiple times throughout my life. Personally, it made me feel a bit better when I found out that even people that are as great as Albert Einstein felt imposter syndrome. He felt as though his accomplishments did not deserve as much recognition as they were getting. He also called himself an involuntary swindler, meaning that he was only as successful as he was because of sheer luck. He felt like a fraud, or some would say an "imposter." Yup, that's right, it just hit you. "I have felt this way!" Yup, everyone has, at some point, experienced this feeling.

🤗 It's Normal to Feel This Way

You may have realized this by now, but this thing we call imposter syndrome is not a disease or abnormality. This feeling has been studied widely among people of all different gender, race, age, and occupations, and that's right; all people, in every category, have experienced imposter syndrome. These feelings are not more or less common in people who already suffer from self-esteem issues, depression, or anxiety.

🗣 Talk About it

The best way to combat these feelings is by talking about it. Talking about imposter syndrome can seem like an odd thing to do. Many studies have shown that we all have this feeling of imposter syndrome, but are too afraid to talk about it because of the fear that we are the only ones feeling this way. This feeling is so familiar that we even have a term for it, called "pluralistic ignorance." Sadly, this feeling stops many individuals from applying for jobs or sharing great ideas that would otherwise help them to excel. Sometimes, even after talking to a mentor and receiving good feedback, it is difficult for the feelings of imposter syndrome to ease, but hearing a mentor talk about their experience with imposter syndrome can make all the difference. The same thing goes for talking to your peers, talking to one another about imposter syndrome, may be helpful for everyone. Sometimes, just recognizing that others feel this way is the most beneficial.

🤜 🤛 We Are in This Together

In conclusion, there is no way to get rid of imposter syndrome completely, but talking about it and recognizing our feelings is the best way to face imposter syndrome head-on. Even though it may sound cheesy, having an open conversation with your peers and mentors about how they have experienced, or may currently be experiencing, imposter syndrome, can make everyone feel at ease. Walking away from this, I want you to know that no matter how you feel, you are strong, you are capable, and don't let these feelings hold you back.