My name is Liam and I'm 27 years old.
My entire life I've struggled to find a passion or a drive to push me to want to be something and do something.
Honestly I struggled a lot in school. I procrastinated all the time, but afraid of failure, so I would do well enough out of fear, but couldn't focus on the right things in life. This left me feel stunted, confused, and lost in life. I thought everyone felt like this and I was just lagging behind.
Like many in this industry, I played a lot of video games, my pc is my entertainment system, and I always thought computers were cool. Though I have a low self-esteem when it came to what I thought I was capable of, after taking C++ and C# in community college, I thought it wasn't for me. I had a lot of fun, but struggled a lot thinking I wasn't good or smart enough. I eventually opted to go for nursing and that ended up just as well you you'd think. I have nothing but an associates degree to my name. This led me to feel like I had exhausted funds, would have to go back and do other classes if I wanted to steer into something else, I felt defeated and lost.
I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD almost a year ago, now medicated, and a lot of my questions were answered on how and why I struggled so much in school and tasks in general. I wonder the man I could have been by now if I were diagnosed and didn't have this confusing hurdle in my life. I started to self-learn coding after college and found it difficult to stick to it. My ADHD made it crippling to do things I wanted to do, knew was good for me, but couldn't get myself to do it. This led to a inconsistent back and fourth of coding.
However, coming back, feeling like I have more control in my life, I picked it back up, with a new attitude on life. I went back to the basics again with JavaScript and trying to build a sense of confidence and competence in my abilities before I go back to React and building more grandiose projects. It's scary to feel like you have no path in life and so you try to move so fast to catch up, you end up feeling like a fraud. Coming back to the basics and really getting to understand the fundamentals has been a big help in my coding anxiety.
What is my goal? My ultimate goal is to be able to work remotely, ideally, and move to Canada. Or be able to move to Canada and offer my skills!
Here's to learning new things, enjoying that fun, and making something of yourself!
The last project I made was a little blackjack game that is played strict just through node with no real interaction(https://github.com/liamdewitt/blackjack-game), but serves to exercise what I knew at the time. Since then, I've been learning more and plan for a new project soon and looking forward to the struggle and learning pains that follow :)!
Top comments (6)
I had the same experience when I took C++ in Uni first year. Gave up because I thought its not for me. Got back to doing years later now and started with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Truth is, C++ and C# are not beginner friendly. Most experienced engineers started with Javascript and Python then moved onto other languages as directed by their career. And that's what college and universities don't teach students unfortunately.
I hear that most computer science majors don't do alot of coding actually. I'm wondering how accurate this is? I want to learn c++!!! I got an arduino and some LEDs i want to make a personalized party up in here. Hahaha. I got it to turn on and make a rainbow 🌈 but that's it. No time for anything! LOL.
My friends who have done a bachelor in Computer Science have learnt the fundamentals on C++, C# and Java, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. They do coding projects but majority of those projects are group projects which are good as you get to show on resume that you have collaborative experience which is a huge skill in tech. And in the final year, the projects they do are usually good in recruiters eyes especially if your grades are distinction level.
Gotcha. I wish I could go back and change majors. But after 7 years of college student life i am resistant. So I've taken on a self guided learning approach to all of this and I even landed an apprenticeship! What's after the apprenticeship? If I don't get a job right away I'm excited to learn a framework or too. Got my eyes on a couple lol.
That's amazing! I too wish to go back in time and choose cs but it was too expensive for me to pursue anyway. Hoping my summer course and personalized projects land me a internship or apprenticeship as hand on experience is key when it comes to landing a full time role.
I know exactly how you feel! I am an artist that went to school for nutrition. Started a small business and now I am learning code! It's been just over a year of learning code for me, and I'm about 10 years older than you. Don't give up. Your in great shape. :) html, css, javascript, ruby, and a smidge of react. Lots to learn and so little time! Goodluck on your endeavors. Do what makes you happy. This is a safe space. :)