
Victory Fanfare! Capstone Done!
Focus on where you want to go. Not on what you fear — Tony Robbins
Victory Fanfare! *Be sure to play the youtube vid whilst reading*
Well, my capstone project, which was Tutti v1.5 is done! My partner and I presented and thankfully we did a pretty good job. Just like last time, it really came down to the wire. We both were pulling in mad hours as we had two weeks to get a handle on Redux and other tools and integrate them into our project.
Just like last time, there were some lessons learned. So let’s get right to it.
Lessons Learned:
1. Now that I’ve learned this knowledge, it’s imperative that I keep building things:
Knowledge without action applied to it is just potential… squandered. It’s not going to do me any good, resting on my laurels when I should capitalize on this opportunity to further learn and grow by building great projects. Projects that are challenging and that solves a problem.
2. Continue to put in work:
This capstone project, I was literally up until 4 or 5 am on a lot of days coding. Writing code, making mistakes, figuring out said mistakes, succeeding, failing again. It was long. There were many nights I was extremely tired, but all of the negatively associated with working on something for a lot of hours disappears once the thing you are building works.
Just seeing the progress you’ve made after all of that struggle.
I however, will never make progress if I don’t give the same if not more intensity on future projects. I want to see my personal and professional life grow due to hours of focused, dedicated work put in. It will happen. As long as I continue to put in that work.
3. Never stop networking. Win as many allies as possible:
First off, mad shouts to Nicole Hartings for getting some great businesses together to watch my cohorts and I present our projects. That was very appreciated. After our presentations were done, some of the folks invited stayed behind and I got a chance to talk with some and network a bit.
Networking is one of my weaknesses. I have to really get better at it. I will get better at it. With some of the companies I’ve visited and the engineers that I’ve spoken to, networking is key. Many of the people there stressed how important networking and getting involved with the tech community was in helping them secure a job. I want to network not just for employment though. I actually enjoy being around people I vibe with. Still, they could come in handy down the road.
4. This is far from over
I graduate in 2 days. I’ve spent 6 months developing and honing my web development skills. What little I know when I started to building a mobile app as well as other projects truly amazes me in the sense that I’ve really just completed the introduction chapter in my own life’s book. That I still have a long arduous journey ahead of me. I’m literally just getting started. The learning will never stop, nor will the struggles. The best part is that also, the victories will never stop. Even if they are the tiny ones. Those are the most crucial in my opinion. Those tiny victories keeps you motivated. It keeps me motivated. It’s a mini boss I’ve just vanquished and I can now progress further into the level, leading up to and eventually defeating the main boss.
It just keeps going . It never stops.
5. Action Changes Things
I never really talked about the events that lead to me joining Galvanize. I won’t now. It’s technically another blog post. All I will say is that I’ve talked about getting into Web/Mobile development for a long time, but that’s where it ended. With talk. And talk is cheap. It wasn’t until a string of events happened that helped push me to joining. That lead me to acting.
And sure as shit, my future is looking bright because of me making better decisions and acting upon them.
Action changes things. For better ,for worse, action changes things. Make the best decisions for your life and more importantly ACT on them.
You’ve heard this before I’m sure. Via the TV, Youtube, a book, a show or some a though in the back of your mind, you’ve run across this message before, yet you are still where you are 1, 5, 10 years in. You know it’s time, it’s been time to get off your ass and do what you said you were going to do.
This was me. Making a decision and action really gave me a glimpse of what could be like if I continue the pattern of acting on my decisions. The last 6 months literally have just flown by. I’ve been such a fun ride. I’ve acquired new skills since I’ve acted on my decision. A great life is ahead of me if I just keep this up.
Stop waiting to be given permission to do something. Stop waiting for the right circumstance to happen. Stop using the excuse that “you’re lazy”. Yeah, you are. You’re your biggest problem but also your biggest solution. Get off your ass and handle business.
You owe it to yourself to see what happens when you do.
*Dismounts soapbox*
That’s really it. I plan on writing two more blog posts that are Galvanize focused. One on graduation (which is tomorrow!) and maybe one after about 6 months after I’m done with the program.
I still will continue blogging. Putting together some technical pieces to share. Hope you like.
Let me get off here and get back to work.
