6 Months to Change my Life

William Wilkes — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 12:55:04 +0000

So this is my first post here, long time admirer first time caller so to speak.

First note is I am doing this to sort of publicly commit to this and hopefully inspire a few more people to take such a gamble. So having been programming now for a year and a half trying virtually all languages at some point or another so i decided last summer it was time to focus on one.

This language you ask ? JavaScript. Yes a lot I had heard was negative but for job demand it was up there and best part was I could take all I had learned from python, java, and the fact I tried web development using the FreeCodeCamp meant I wasn’t starting at square one.

Well this was great news, this gave me motivation that I started at a point where it wasn’t starting again. It seemed like while I have been studying part time CS degree that I was constantly changing languages which left me knowing how to print the famous "Hello World" in 5 languages.

So back to the topic of changing my life in six months, I was told just before Christmas that next April my contract at my current job wont be renewed due to finances, and this made me panic. I have developed a comfort zone of some sorts I work, study and play PlayStation. This left me in a somewhat "Damn what am I going to do" moment.

The main Question did I carry on teaching adults (my job) or did I pursue my dream of becoming a developer. I knew I would have to start at the bottom again, which made me think, do I ? Don’t I ?
So this leads me to the moment something in my mindset changed from I cant be a developer till I finish university to I could get a Junior position now!

So I start looking at what I would need for a junior position around Europe, I'm having a go big or go home mentality at this point. I've always loved the Netherlands , I speak average Dutch, visited 8 times in two years. I was thinking why not?

Well the problem is up to this point in my life I have been practical, methodical and cautious and everyone I knew was thinking I was having a meltdown waffling on about being a developer and moving countries but in the world today rewards the brave ? Right...

So my plan is simple
> Keep building my skills in HTML, CSS and JavaScript
> Build a portfolio website, and keep changing it include new skills
> Finish university for the year and then start applying for jobs
> Never Stop Learning and let the hunger, desire and ambition come through.

With these things I cant fail and I know that joining a team of like minded individuals, learning from people and continuing my adventure is what keeps me going. The fire inside us is what defines our boundaries and fire is limitless

"There is no passion to be found playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
-Nelson Mandela

Ill keep you updated on how its going as I found this quite therapeutic.

DEV Community: William Wilkes

6 Months to Change my Life