Struggles of A New Dev

Daniel Delgado
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

I want to clear something up before I go any further into this…

I feel like I deal with a lot of the same inner struggles that a lot of other people deal with too and I just wanted to share my experiences with everyone in hopes that we can support and learn from each other. We are not alone! Lol.

IN THE BEGINNING

To start, let’s go back in time a few years. I was going to school to become a software engineer but after taking several classes, I began to develop a love for front-end development. There was something about making something from scratch and making it look great for the world to appreciate made more excited than software development ever did. After a while, I started to work with Wordpress and Adobe Muse templates and experimented with changing the HTML and CSS around. Once I had the basics down, I started to customizing more code and making custom sites for clients and in doing so found myself spending the majority of my spare time learning about, researching and thinking about coding.

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

After several years of happily coding and publishing a few websites for clients here and there, I found myself struggling on a daily basis during my journey to become a better front-end developer and (hopefully soon) a Full Stack Developer. When I sat down to work on a personal project or do a challenge, I found myself doubting things I already know and although I find many of the challenges and course exams to be easy, I can’t seem to translate that into coding without instructions. And I had no idea why. A few weeks ago however, I happened upon a seasoned developer’s Instagram account and a post in which she talked about Imposter Syndrome and how it was something she’d dealt with when first starting out. I immediately felt like I’d just found the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow of self-doubt and confusion and all I could think was, I’m NOT alone!

THE CURRENT SITUATION

With my imposter syndrome still intact but finally self-diagnosed, I’m starting this series to open up about my struggles and hopefully find a solution or some support group-like assistance to aid myself (and others!) to overcome these mental setbacks and succeed. As I said in the beginning, I know my struggles aren’t unique and we are not alone.

Daniel Delgado
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade