CNC 2018 PRE-MISSION

Code Newbie Challenge 2018 (Code More)

Photo by Fabian Grohs on Unsplash

Last year I decided that I wanted to learn how to code. At first I wasn’t sure where to start. So, I started with HTML and CSS at Code Academy. Then I started Free Code Camp which seemed like a good idea at first. I quickly learned that I suck at JavaScript. I spent much of the year learning new things, getting discouraged and quitting.

I discovered the Code Newbie Podcast in the fall on twitter. I listened to The JavaScript First Responder with Wes Bos episode. Wes Bos is Full Stack Developer, Teacher and Speaker from Canada. After hearing Wes talk about overcoming his hatred of JavaScript and about his courses I decided that I needed to stop quitting.

I signed up for two of his course, What The Flexbox and JavaScript30. Code Newbie and Wes Bos totally changed how I felt about this journey so far. Listening to others share their stories of things that they struggled with and overcame was so encouraging. I learned that struggling comes with the territory and don’t let it get to you.

After an up and down 2017, I wanted to start 2018 off in the right direction. I saw the Code Newbie Challenge on twitter and decided to signup to code more. My pre-mission for this challenge is to reflect on what I did last year and my goals for the year. I read that it was best to document my journey but I had no interest in actually doing it. Thanks to this pre-mission I now have to try, so here we go.

What has worked?

1. Focusing on learning one thing at a time
2. Breaking things down to smaller parts
3. Reading articles and doing video tutorials
4. Celebrating small victories
5. Having a support system to push me when I get discouraged

What has NOT worked?

1. #100DaysOfCode: I hadn’t developed a daily coding habit
2. #30Days30Sites: I spent more time learning CSS Grid and Flexbox then working on the actual projects.
3. FreeCodeCamp: I quit when I reached the Basic Algorithm Scripting section because I didn’t know Javascript well enough.
4. Doing too many things at one time

What are your long-term goals?

1. Code for at least 1 hour 5 days per week
2. Continue learning JavaScript
3. Complete the FreeCodeCamp Front End Development Certificate
4. Complete some coding projects that I didn’t have the confidence to attempt
5. Finish #30Days30Sites and #100DaysOfCode

What are your short-term goals?

1. Continue working on #100DaysOfCode
2. Start a side project
3. Use what I have learned from challenges
4. Build my blog website Rolling Developer

Wish me luck!