Grammatical Errors a5122353
Steve Simkins · 2023-02-28 23:42 1 file(s) · +2 −2
src/content/post/my-developer-journey.md +2 −2
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**[How I Learned to Code - And Got a Job in Less Than 3 Months](https://youtu.be/nupkQD_Mnhg)**
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## The Grind
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Of course the title is clickbait and I got hooked, and while I didn't learn to code in three months, I got started. I bought [Head First: HTML with CSS and XHTML](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-HTML-CSS-Standards-Based/dp/0596159900) off eBay for $10 and blew through it in a weekend; I just couldn't stop consuming knowledge about web development. This wasn't programming just yet, but the magic was there because I watched text on a screen transform into something visual. I've had a creative background with music and photography, and the ability to create something with lines of code was fascinating. The next book was [Head First Java](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-Brain-Learners/dp/0596004656?keywords=head+first+java&qid=1677605428&sr=8-5) which did not click with me at all. I barely grasped the basic programming principles, but I couldn't understand how they connected with web sites and made things work, and that was likely due to using 5-10 year old books. I switched up and went to YouTube again and found some web development roadmap videos, that gave me a rough guideline of what I needed to learn. 
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Of course the title is clickbait and I got hooked. I didn't learn to code in three months, but I did get started. I bought [Head First: HTML with CSS and XHTML](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-HTML-CSS-Standards-Based/dp/0596159900) off eBay for $10 and blew through it in a weekend; I just couldn't stop consuming knowledge about web development. This wasn't programming just yet, but the magic was there because I watched text on a screen transform into something visual. I've had a creative background with music and photography, and the ability to create something with lines of code was fascinating. The next book was [Head First Java](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-Brain-Learners/dp/0596004656?keywords=head+first+java&qid=1677605428&sr=8-5) which did not click with me at all. I barely grasped the basic programming principles. I couldn't understand how they connected with web sites and made things work, and that was likely due to using 5-10 year old books. I switched up and went to YouTube again and found some web development roadmap videos which gave me a rough guideline of what I needed to learn. 
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The next year was spent grinding through some coursed by [Ed](https://developedbyed.com/), starting with basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and eventually transitioning to React. That was a rough period, because I was still working at the bank full time, helping take care of a difficult newborn baby, and learning something completely new. I would wake up at 5am most days, completely exhausted yet pushing through concept after concept and project after project. After work too I would come home, help around the house, and later in the evening I would keep coding. While it was a lot of work, it was totally worth it. 
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The next year was spent grinding through some coursed by [Ed](https://developedbyed.com/), starting with basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and eventually React. That was a rough period, because I was still working at the bank full time. I was helping take care of a difficult newborn baby, and learning something completely new. I would wake up at 5am most days, completely exhausted yet pushing through concept after concept and project after project. After work I would come home, help around the house, and later in the evening I would keep coding. While it was a lot of work, it was totally worth it. 
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## The First Smart Contract
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After about a year I was getting to a point where I was creating projects with the goal of having a portfolio I could use for applying to jobs. That's when I stumbled upon Web3. I can't remember how, but I found a project on [Buildspace](https://buildspace.so) that introduced me to blockchain, Ethereum, and smart contracts. I'll never forget the feeling of deploying my first smart contract and interacting with it from a front end website. This was it; I knew from there I wanted to work in this new internet and make it better. I built countless Web3 projects, some of them included minting NFTs, which is where I stumbled upon [Pinata](https://pinata.cloud). When I started to look for jobs I saw that Pinata was hiring a community manager, and even though I was looking to be a developer, I was fond of the idea that I could use some of my other skills like support and customer service in the industry. I applied for the job, and within a month got hired as the 11th employee!