100 Days of Discovery in #100DaysOfCode

Day 12/100

This all started by accident.

I was working a freelance writing job which brought me to GitHub, where I found something called Free Code Camp. It was intriguing…learn to code? For free? Coding, in my mind, has always been something out of my reach. I (partially) blame that on clicking “view page source” while on Google.

So I did what came naturally: I ignored it. Nothing happened, of course. Then nothing continued to happen, over and over again. Finally curiosity stepped in and I signed up. I tried an exercise. And then another. Then another. There it was — a need I never knew I had, being satisfied. I was hooked.

Why I’m posting

Like many others, I found Alexander Kallaway’s announcement here on Medium. This was my inspiration.

So, here it is. My first Medium post and personal announcement. For the next 100 days I will code at least 1 hour a day, with a caveat: stick with it to the end. No excuses.

Yes, it took me 12 days to say this. There’s nothing harder than speaking up when it’s so easy to stay quiet.

Why take the challenge?

That’s the big question, isn’t it? The “why.” Here’s mine.

I learned just how much I love coding in those first few days. Using a (insert air quotes here if you like) few lines of code you can create something others can see, and use. You can help make lives easier with these combinations of text and symbols.

In spite of all the terrible, wonderful frustrations kicked up so far, I want to be able to do that.

I want to be a developer.