You Own Your Learning
This is for those who have moved past wishing
If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. –Martin Luther King Jr.
If you’re still at the wishing park waiting for the right bus, you might be there longer than you bargained for, and if you don’t find a bus for you, then by all means start walking slowly to your destination. By all means, keep moving.
Let’s get started… I should probably just drop this here first.
You can’t become a developer by watching tutorial videos. You can’t become a developer by attending meetups. You can’t become a developer by reading books. You can’t become a developer by copying codes from the internet. Heck! You can’t become a developer by joining developer communities. There is only one sure way to become a developer. You have to code. This is the only sure way; one line of code at a time. You own your learning.
Sure, you can’t become world-class in a day, so don’t try. Don’t try cramming. It doesn’t work. Don’t try learning everything at once especially if you are feeling stressed already. Don’t get scared at the amount of information; language, frameworks you don’t know. You don’t have to learn all the technologies to make an impact. At the end of the day, it is not what you don’t have that limits you, it is what you have but don’t know how to use. You own your learning
Just as above, don’t try to become a badass, just own your learning. Don’t try to prove anything to anyone, we all use google too. The only difference could probably be experienced developers tend to know how to use google better, but we all google. You should know that developers aren’t built in a day. Ask around, they’ve probably been coding for a while. Remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. You own your learning.
Do put in the daily hours. Learn as frequent as you can. Take a break when you can’t further. Personally, I take walks and listen to songs. I have a playlist; from Camila Cabello, Alessia Cara, DJ Khaled, Frank Ocean, Jay Z, Luke Christopher, Avicii, Khalid, Sandman, Emeli Sande and the list goes on. I have a friend who drinks coffee like he’s paid to. It keeps him going. My code partner likes to talk a lot and connect even though weirdly, she’s an introvert. Find what works for you and stick with it. You own your learning.
Don’t beat yourself too much to want to quit. You can’t just quit like that. It’s fine to feel frustration, it’s a sign you are pushing your mind and body beyond what it’s used to. Your developer story can’t be complete if you haven’t suffered from the pangs of simple punctuation. That is supposed to be funny though. Remember you own your learning.
Now remember people learn at different paces. I know someone that can sit at a spot and code fifteen hours straight, but because I can’t, I will rather spread my learning hours over days. Some learn three hours daily, others learn eleven hours each during the weekends. They both equally spend about twenty-one hours learning at the end of the week…
…Some learn faster, they only need to see the code once and then type it and it sticks, some others might have to type this code at least sixteen times, write it on chalkboards, and different pieces of paper, and probably speak it out and write on the air. Know what works for you and stick with it. Remember you own your learning.
It’s OK to forget your lines, and NO, it is not a sign that you aren’t learning anything, it only means you forgot your lines. Go at it again. Never try to cram your codes unless you became an expert from the many nights before the exam while in school. Still, the aim is to know and understand. Personally, I type my codes repeatedly until it sticks, I also write it in a paper away from the screen if I can. I also like to look through others code and attempt to provide solutions to them. The more I do this, the better I get. I advise this method because it works, adopt it if it works for you. Remember, you own your learning.
To be a developer (or any profession worthwhile) is to commit to a lifelong of learning. We are always learning new stuffs. Don’t be scared, here’s a secret all these technologies tend to converge, and even more importantly, they all tend to come from the same root. It’s easier to learn more technologies if your roots are good. So get comfortable with your current track. This is why you shouldn’t memorize, understand the syntax, the concepts and idea and you’d be fine. Be comfortable and own your learning.
Again, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Experience developers don’t go about telling everyone how good they are at programming, or the amount of languages and frameworks, and tools they work with. You know who does this? Amateurs. Have the experienced mindset. Instead talk about the projects you’ve worked on or built, talk rather about your contribution to open source and the community, talk about the teams you’ve worked with. Avoid that argument of who’s better at coding. It’s a trap. If you are interested, learn the language instead, this is totally optional. Pick your track, and own your learning.
About codes. This is how to test how comfortable you are with your learning. Try explaining your codes to a person who thinks what you are doing is gibberish. If you can breakdown your code to this person’s understanding, then you’re the real MVP. You are the MVP because you were diligent at your learning. You should know MVPs are awesome.
