Recently, it really hit me:
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There wasn't a problem with any one of the resources I used. They all did their thing and taught it well. I learned a lot from them, they just weren't always the right fit.
is there a TL;DR? Yes! click me
Not the Right Fit
I realized that's not really a problem or even a bad thing. There are tons of completely valid reasons it might actually be a good thing.
There'd be no point in trying to move forward with something if it wasn't something I could understand yet. Equally, if something was too simple, there was no reason to stay there. There were also times when I realized I needed a different type of material or a totally different subject. Last but not least, I would paint a false picture if I didn't mention the highs and lows of life that put a damper on learning.
Vicki Langer@vicki_langerI didn't finish these. Here's why I didn't:
🧭was too lost
🔎got distracted looking something up
🐌didn't progress at the speed of the course
⤵️decided to pivot
😐dealing w/ life
If someone doesn't finish a course, it doesn't mean they didn't learn from it or keep learning15:50 PM - 20 Feb 2020
What I Did
From the start, I really didn't have a plan. I played with FreeCodeCamp (FCC) after learning about it and suggesting it to a former coworker. It wasn't my plan to keep doing it.
FreeCodeCamp (FCC)
I started with FCC's HTML & CSS and picked basic things up rather quickly. I moved on to JavaScript, did 80ish of the lessons. Why did I stop? I was frustrated with the math and I was frustrated with the interface. HTML and CSS had given visual feedback. FCC JavaScript wasn't doing this the way, as a newbie, I thought it should. I also knew just enough to play around with HTML and CSS to make a landing page for the business I was building.
As I decided I didn't like JavaScript, I did some research and found Django would better suit my needs. So, I started with Django Girls blog tutorial.
Django Girls
Django Girls was the first time I had touched the terminal, played with pip, and did things I worried were going to break my computer. Once I had Python and Django installed, I followed their rather simple tutorial. I was a total newbie, but it was going smoothly. Pretty soon, I had a really basic looking blog and had set up whatever a virtual environment was. Okay, maybe I lied, I think I did finish this, but it was a small thing. Then I wanted to make my blog into something that resembled the business I was trying to build. That required me to learn more Django.
YouTube Series
I was having a hell of a time understanding Django. I was reading the docs, but NOTHING made sense. I went to YouTube and watched a couple series. It would take me an hour to watch a 15-minute video. I'd pause it every few seconds to make sure I didn't miss anything. I loved how Sentdex and Coding for Entrepreneurs took the time to explain how and why certain things were happening. Though, it was still hard to comprehend.
All the while, I was asking questions and probably sounding like I knew nothing. I sounded like I knew nothing because I really didn't. Eventually, one of the many questions @matteing answered made me realize I was doing it wrong. I was learning how to structure a Django project and template with Jinja2, but I still hadn't learned Python.
A Book
Now I needed to learn Python. I was finally figuring out why I had so many issues. I perused amazon for a beginner's book with pictures, to make it easy. I found, purchased, and received the Illustrated Guide to Python 3. To my dismay, NO illustrations, or at least not like I expected. There are some diagrams of stepping through the code. Anyway, this book is awesome. I would get out my highlighters, draw all over, underline, highlight, and I was really learning things. There were practice things at the end of each chapter and they were actually helpful and mostly not math. Shortly after I got the book, I was feeling good. A month or so later, a local college had sent out some classes that were open to the public. At this point, I was about 3/4 of the way through the book.
A Local Night Class
After receiving a listing of night classes, I decided it couldn't hurt to look. I managed to find an 'Intro to Python" course. So, I signed up and I went. It was perfect! It was reiterating the things I had just learned in the book I was reading. I knew some things. I was able to help out other people in the class. I also learn a lot of things. I learned more intricate details of the things I already knew. It was awesome. During this class, the professor told us to check out How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. So, I started going through the interactive book while going to the class. I was about halfway through the book and it jumped further/faster than I was learning. I got frustrated, pinned the tab, and told myself I'd get back to it. (by the way, it's still pinned and I still haven't gone back to it)
30 Days of Python
At this time, I felt like I knew things, but I didn't know them that well. So, I started following along 30 Days of Python and started writing notes (that made sense to me) about allllll the basics. I needed to be able to reference something that didn't have all the awful foo
, bar
, and math examples. I'm not considering this one "never finished". I'm calling it "a work in progress". I'm still writing my notes and I still reference them. If you also hate the math examples, check out my basic Python series. I would work on this series more, but I paused some to build Vets Who Code Retweet bot and Code Questions bot
Still, There's Progress
I haven't finished many "learn to code" programs or tutorials or books, but that doesn't make me a failure. I've learned a ton. I've made and shipped projects. I have an open source project that I maintain and improve. I contribute to other open source projects.
Would you call that a failure? So, why do some people claim the unfinished course rate as a bad thing? If it's your course, I know it might feel personal. I'm here to tell you it probably isn't. There was a reason someone didn't finish. It might be your course, but there's a better chance it was a personal reason like most of mine.
Vicki Langer@vicki_langerI've seen some courses claim the number of people who didn't finish as the number of people who didn't make it into tech. (I can't remember exactly what they wrote, but I wish I did)
If someone doesn't finish a course, it doesn't mean they didn't learn from it or keep learning15:50 PM - 20 Feb 2020
You made a course and some people don't finish!
You made a course. It's awesome. It's the best and everyone should take it! I believe you. I know the whole thing is amazing. Here's what you do when someone doesn't finish:
- Know that you helped them
- Ask what you could do better
- Remember it's not personal
- Watch for trends and change material, as needed
- Recognize that you didn't fail yourself or them
If someone doesn't finish a course, it doesn't mean they didn't learn from it or keep learning
TL;DR
So, here's a (probably incomplete) list of places and people I learned from. I totally recommend allllll of these, if they apply to you.
Resource | Learning | Why I didn't Finish |
---|---|---|
FreeCodeCamp | HTML, CSS, then JS | confusing interface, for me, to learn JS as a newbie |
Django Girls | Django and Python | I finished this :D |
Tango with Django | django stuff | great intentions, but I never actually built anyhing with this |
Try Django Tutorial Series by Coding for Entrepreneurs | Django web dev | still didn't know wtf I was doing w/ python |
Django Web Development with Python by Sentdex | Django web dev and jinga2 | still didn't know wtf I was doing w/ python |
HackerRank | Python Algorithms/Logic | Felt disjointed and it wasn't helping me figure out how to put things together |
Illustrated Guide to Python 3 | basics of python | Had learned enough to do some things and then the class started |
Forsyth Tech Community College: Intro to Python | basics of python | I finished this too! :D |
Python Game Programming Tutorial: Pong by Christian Thompson | Python Turtle Library | I made a pretty intense Pong game |
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist | not as basic, basics of python | I got distracted by making projects |
Top comments (14)
I've heard Repl.it is cool. Though, I learned about them well after I was looking to learn JS. I've looked at playing with Glitch, I think it's similar and has the ability to work with Python.
Good luck! I couldn't (didn't let my self, I guess) wrap my head around JS. I think at this point, I could go back and learn it rather quickly though.
Thank you for showing that I'm not the only one who has left a wake of unfinished coding courses! I'm sure many, many people can relate to it. Especially those of us who came to this profession from a different one and didn't have a formal computer science education.
That is exactly why I wrote this! I came from managing aircraft maintenance. Which by the way, is not a computer science or IT field. I knew I couldn’t be the only one with a ton of unfinished courses, tutorials, and the like. I tried blaming life and my inability to finish things. When I realized there was more to it, I knew it had to be more than just me.
What did you do prior to coding?
I did nonprofit administration. Started as an executive assistant and then managed scholarship programs. I eventually took over managing a website and rekindling an interest in web from when I had built a website on Tripod in 1998 as a bored teenager. 12 years later, here I am!
Just find some things I need, do some things they want.
No more.
xD
Exactly
I love this so much! So often I read fun stories of people finishing stuff and wonder, where are my wayside warriors, ahoo!
Yeah, I tried to beat myself up about not finishing anything. I tried telling myself it was ADD. I tried telling myself I was failing, over and over and over. Then, I realized there were mostly good reasons for me to have moved on from each of the things I have used to learn.
I have no formal instruction in Vue, Python, or SQL - the three things I work with most on the job 😂
I see no problem with that.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
🙂
But... I heard that freecodecamp and TOP and Udemy courses are all "really great" for everyone. Are you saying.... that this isn't true?? ;)
FreeCodeCamp is really great for everyone. I think it's a fantastic place to start.
Did you read the post? I'm a little unsure because the first 3 sentences detailed how there wasn't a problem, all was taught well, and they just weren't a good fit.
If after reading this you didn't catch that there are lots of reasons for peopleto not finish a course, I'm not sure how to help you.
I've signed up. Thanks!