I began my journey of learning to code and making a career change about a year and a half ago. I had recently moved to a new city and was working a job that I didn't care for or saw myself doing in the future. I have always been somewhat interested in computers and had dabbled in some Codecademy courses before, but I never really dedicated the time to learn how to code. I knew some people who had make the transition into the code world, and so I began my journey of exploring of what my transition into coding might look like. Over the last year and a half, I have failed a lot. I have been so frustrated because I had no idea what I was doing at times. I wanted to give up. Only recently have I taken the time to look back and realize how much I have actually learned and grown since I started learning to code. I consistently struggle with Imposter Syndrome, but I have come to terms that I do not think it will ever truly go away. While I acknowledge that I do not know a lot about coding, I do want to share a few things I find helpful to remind myself of in the hopes that it might help you.
You don't have to be a master of everything. You don't have to master Python, web development, the terminal, the latest JS framework, or whatever it is that you're told you need to master. No one can truly master any given topic. It may seem that someone that comes across your Dev/GitHub/Twitter feed knows everything about JS or [insert technology here]. I promise you that they too need to look things up each and every day.
Put yourself out there and contribute. I'm preaching this to myself at this very moment. This is my first real article or contribution to any tech related site. It's okay if you haven't worked in software for 20+ years. Share what you know. Try to teach and explain something, even if it the basics of programming. You can help someone out there.
Always be open to learning. I am always looking for people to follow on Twitter or Youtube channels that I can learn from. Tech is always evolving so your learning will never be complete.
I hope this has helped someone out there. Please feel free to reach out with advice you wish you someone had told you when you were first starting out!
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