Fourth times a charm

It took me four times to really get serious about coding. I was always interested in tech and enjoyed IT at school but always had trouble sticking with it.

My first foray into tech was when I finished high school. I wanted to work in tech so I did an IT course at a TAFE college, it was a two year course. I passed the first year but didn’t do so well in the second.

Instead of sticking with it, I decided to leave school and get a full time job. At 19, I wasn’t very interested in school and I wasn’t a good student.

After being in the workforce for over 10 years, I ended up in a job that required me to work with data and get good at using Excel, especially pivot tables. I loved working with data and finding ways to visualise it. I learned alot about the importance of data structures, governance and documentation.

I spent 10 years in my last job as an analyst. As mentioned above, it required me to work heavily with data. I got pretty good at my job however, my skills hit a glass ceiling.

The world around me was changing and I struggled to keep up. There were newer and better ways of doing things, and I only heard about them by accident or, when new people started in my team. I knew I had to do something to keep up.

I became keenly interested in data science but soon discovered it was a long, complicated and expensive path to become one. It was discouraging, and I wasn’t confident that I could get into the field.

I did do a lot of research into the field and looked into the best ways to process and analyse data. I discovered that the most popular ways were using SQL, R and Python. R and Python were used widely for processing, analysis and modelling.

Initially, I was interested in R. However, Python had wider applications and it was a good language for beginners.

I decided to learn Python with the aim of getting into analytics. I looked online for tutorials and reached out to a mentor for advice. They recommended that I first read a book called Beginning Programming All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. They said that this would give me a good overview of programming.

I bought the book and started to read it fervently. I read it for about a month and then gave up. Work was stressful at the time and my motivation faded quickly.

After failing to get any traction the first time, I decided to give things another go a year later. I looked for Python tutorials online. I found one on YouTube and decided to try it. I did it for a couple of weeks, got frustrated and gave up.

It jumped from basic concepts to more advanced ones very quickly, and it didn’t really teach you any basic programming fundamentals (which is key).

I tried to be systematic and logical in my approach to deal with my frustration and increase my consistency. I took notes, wrote my questions down and went for walks to clear my head.

Sadly, it didn’t really work for me. There was something missing, and it was stopping me from passing the early stages of my learning.

In December 2019, I resigned from my job. I decided to take some time off and reassess what I wanted to do.

I’d been watching various tech YouTubers for a number of years and one that stood out to me was Andrew Sterkowitz Link. He’s a self-taught developer and his story resonated with me.

After watching some of his videos (and other YouTubers), I started my journey again in 2020. But this time, I brought insights from my previous attempts to the table as well as information from my research, and a better understanding about patience and persistence.
Initially, I still wanted to work with data, and I thought the best way for me to do that was to become a data analyst.

However, as I learned more about coding, I decided that I did not want to be limited by a role that would only require me to extract, transform and load data (ETL). I wanted to solve problems based on the insights provided by the data.

I then thought about developing enterprise software. Based on my years of experience and knowledge, I was in a unique position to provide business intelligence and develop tools for companies with unique needs.

I thought that an in-house job at a company would be ideal. However, I found that the barrier to entry was quite high.

My goal was to do something that:

1. I was interested in, and
2. Would leverage my existing skills and experience.

Ironically, web development, which I wasn’t a big fan of, seemed like the way to go. I led a project in my last job to develop a website.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I couldn’t deny that it ticked a lot of boxes.

Websites have a wide variety of applications, they’re cross platform and the work offers a lot of opportunities and flexibility. I also didn’t fully understand how powerful websites and web apps could be.

After much soul searching and analysis, I decided that full stack web development was the career for me and I have been on this path since last year. I really enjoy it and I have learned lots of new and exciting things.

My road to getting here has not been easy. I’m 43, but my age has not stopped me from knowing and believing that I can achieve anything I want to.

After seeing how others have made their dreams a reality, I realised that everything you do matters but at the same it doesn’t.

What I mean is, if you fail, so what. If you give up, so what. If you start again, so what and that’s a good thing.

All that matters is that you do what you want to do and that you enjoy it. There’s no special rule book that tells what we can and can’t do, just do whatever you like. Have grit and patience and you’ll get there.

But remember the golden rules:

1. Be kind to yourself.
2. Look after yourself.
3. Be patient.
4. Take breaks and time off.

We use machines but we are not machines. Machines are meant to make our lives easier. We should be efficient and effective in how we use them to improve our lives.

So, in the words of one of my favourite singers “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.” - Aaliyah.

Attempts timeline

1996-1997

TAFE College.

2018

Started Beginning Programming All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies.

2019

Started Python Beginners Series for Absolute Beginners on YouTube.
Then started Coding for Python book.

2020

Started Beginning Programming All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies again and finished it. Link
Started Coding for Python again and finished it. Link
Finished Learning How to Learn on Coursera. Link
Finished Automate The Boring Stuff with Python on Udemy. Link
Read A Mind for Numbers. Link
Finished an Arithmetic course on Khan Academy. Link
Learned how to touch type using TypingClub. Link
Did a SQL tutorial on SQLBolt. Link
Completed Python projects.
Did Python and SQL coding challenges.
Joined online groups.
Networked with people and got a study partner.
Reached out to my mentor.