git.stevedylan.dev

fixed social links, deleted extra post, made last changes fa1651bf

Steve · 2023-03-01 09:34 3 file(s) · +15 −13

src/components/SocialList.astro +12 −2

			</a>
		</li>
		<li>
			<a class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link" href={SOCIAL_LINKS.linkedin} }>
			<a
				class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link"
				href={SOCIAL_LINKS.linkedin}
				target="_blank"
				rel="noopener noreferrer"
			>
				<svg
					xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
					class="h-6 w-6"

			</a>
		</li>
		<li>
			<a class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link" href={SOCIAL_LINKS.ethereum} }>
			<a
				class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link"
				href={SOCIAL_LINKS.ethereum}
				target="_blank"
				rel="noopener noreferrer"
			>
				<svg
					xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
					class="h-6 w-6"

src/content/post/my-developer-journey.md +3 −3


It was a fair job for three to four years but eventually the wear of retail grew on me and I got tired of working late hours. That's when I transitioned into banking as a teller, as I heard it was a good out from retail. After working as a teller for about a year I moved to the back office customer service position. There I worked 8.5 hours a day taking phone calls and helping customers with online banking, debit card problems, or just checking a balance. It was a pretty nice gig since I got to help people and work with some pieces of tech, and later down the road I eventually helped managed the department. That position also helped me learn how to be productive, type faster, and operate a keyboard only interface quickly. 

Of course talking to people all day every day took a toll on my mental health after four years, and that's about when my son was born. I had about three weeks of vacation and sick time off to help my wife before going back to work, and yeah I really didn't want to go back after taking a good solid break. I sat in that hospital parking lot, scrolling through YouTube, when I came across a video. This video to be precise: 
As you would expect talking to people all day every day took a toll on my mental health after four years, and that's about when my son was born. I had about three weeks of vacation and sick time off to help my wife before going back to work, and yeah I really didn't want to go back after taking a good solid break. I sat in that hospital parking lot, scrolling through YouTube, when I came across a video. This video to be precise: 

**[How I Learned to Code - And Got a Job in Less Than 3 Months](https://youtu.be/nupkQD_Mnhg)**

## The Grind

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. 
Of course the title is clickbait and I was 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. 

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. 

## The First Smart Contract
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!
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 I was hired!

As the community manager then and head of community now, I've had another year of being able to learn technical products and help people use them and understand them. I still get to write code that demonstrates what Pinata can do and snippets to help make it easier to use, which I absolutely love. Pinata took a chance on some guy who used to fetch shoes and take phone calls, and because of that I've been able to relocate to a better city where I can raise my family for which I am incredibly grateful. Sitting down to work each day is exciting because I know that I can learn just about anything and I can teach it to others.


src/content/post/testing-again.md (deleted) +0 −8

---
title: "Testing Blog Post again!"
publishDate: "28 Feb 2023"
description: "How I learned web development and transitioned into the tech and Web3 space"
tags: ["web development", "bio", "personal", "web3"]
---

Hope this works

92	92		</a>
93	93		</li>
94	94		<li>
95		-	<a class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link" href={SOCIAL_LINKS.linkedin} }>
	95	+	<a
	96	+	class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link"
	97	+	href={SOCIAL_LINKS.linkedin}
	98	+	target="_blank"
	99	+	rel="noopener noreferrer"
	100	+	>
96	101		<svg
97	102		xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
98	103		class="h-6 w-6"

116	121		</a>
117	122		</li>
118	123		<li>
119		-	<a class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link" href={SOCIAL_LINKS.ethereum} }>
	124	+	<a
	125	+	class="inline-block p-2 sm:hover:text-link"
	126	+	href={SOCIAL_LINKS.ethereum}
	127	+	target="_blank"
	128	+	rel="noopener noreferrer"
	129	+	>
120	130		<svg
121	131		xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
122	132		class="h-6 w-6"

11	11
12	12		It was a fair job for three to four years but eventually the wear of retail grew on me and I got tired of working late hours. That's when I transitioned into banking as a teller, as I heard it was a good out from retail. After working as a teller for about a year I moved to the back office customer service position. There I worked 8.5 hours a day taking phone calls and helping customers with online banking, debit card problems, or just checking a balance. It was a pretty nice gig since I got to help people and work with some pieces of tech, and later down the road I eventually helped managed the department. That position also helped me learn how to be productive, type faster, and operate a keyboard only interface quickly.
13	13
14		-	Of course talking to people all day every day took a toll on my mental health after four years, and that's about when my son was born. I had about three weeks of vacation and sick time off to help my wife before going back to work, and yeah I really didn't want to go back after taking a good solid break. I sat in that hospital parking lot, scrolling through YouTube, when I came across a video. This video to be precise:
	14	+	As you would expect talking to people all day every day took a toll on my mental health after four years, and that's about when my son was born. I had about three weeks of vacation and sick time off to help my wife before going back to work, and yeah I really didn't want to go back after taking a good solid break. I sat in that hospital parking lot, scrolling through YouTube, when I came across a video. This video to be precise:
15	15
16	16		[How I Learned to Code - And Got a Job in Less Than 3 Months](https://youtu.be/nupkQD_Mnhg)
17	17
18	18		## The Grind
19	19
20		-	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.
	20	+	Of course the title is clickbait and I was 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.
21	21
22	22		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.
23	23
24	24		## The First Smart Contract
25		-	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!
	25	+	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 I was hired!
26	26
27	27		As the community manager then and head of community now, I've had another year of being able to learn technical products and help people use them and understand them. I still get to write code that demonstrates what Pinata can do and snippets to help make it easier to use, which I absolutely love. Pinata took a chance on some guy who used to fetch shoes and take phone calls, and because of that I've been able to relocate to a better city where I can raise my family for which I am incredibly grateful. Sitting down to work each day is exciting because I know that I can learn just about anything and I can teach it to others.
28	28

1	-	---
2	-	title: "Testing Blog Post again!"
3	-	publishDate: "28 Feb 2023"
4	-	description: "How I learned web development and transitioned into the tech and Web3 space"
5	-	tags: ["web development", "bio", "personal", "web3"]
6	-	---
7	-
8	-	Hope this works