I feel great when I find the solution to a problem, even if it’s just a wrongly closed element or I complete a mini-challenge like a basic survey form.
…But then I become a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information of everything. For example I love the FCC challenges (front-end) and each one feels like a great accomplishment and then I realise I’ve not even started Javascript yet! I don’t know what SASS actually does and I couldn’t explain exactly how the web works.
Looking back to when I started about a month ago I’ve learned a lot & I know this is a normal feeling it just because a bit overwhelming sometimes.
I also feel as if I learn very slowly as with the challenges, i.e before I attempt a challenge such as the survey. I’ll watch videos, read books, do the challenges in the books and then do the FCC survey. This may take a few days/week.
I set a general, not specific goal for Christmas day. The goal is just to look back and see how far I’ve come.
So I am only 5 months in and it is completely normal to be overwhelmed by all that there is to learn.
So it sounds like you might be jumping around the curriculum a little bit. If you want to do the bootstrap and SASS challenges before javascript I don’t think that is bad. But continuing onto the react and redux challenges is not a great idea if you haven’t learned javascript yet. So I would highly suggest going back to the javascript section before tackling the react challenges or else none of it will make sense.
There is nothing wrong with taking things slow and wanting to prepare for a project. I think that is the exact right way to do things.
You are only a month in but you have covered a lot of ground work. I would advise you to continue to be patient, practice and study hard.
Thank you, I need to not worry about the road ahead just whats in front of me. I made a goal for 1 year to be at least competent and excited to be able to look back at 12 months of study.
I’m sticking with the curriculum, the above was just me having a mini melt-down of all the stuff there is too learn. I’ve not even finished the responsive design yet but javascript will be next. (excited and nervous - I had a sneak peak at some of the challenges)
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad FCC has such a great active community.
I só understand you. I finished RWD pretty quickly and was very enthusiastic. But then I got in JScript and this is so different, I feel so lost like I don’t understand anything and it’s more math or smth like this
It is normal to feel like that because javascript is your first programming language. But once you get used to the basics like arrays, objects, functions, etc then it will start to make more sense.
I think subconsciously, that is the exact reason I’m taking my time with RWD.
From what I’ve read, Javascript is going to be a real headache for me but one thing I have started reading is Jon Duckett’s javascript book. His style of writing is so simple and even though I’m only a few chapters in, I’m enjoying his style of explanations.
this is a normal feeling and I think it will never go away.
I think no topic becomes easier over time. Everything becomes harder, because if you increase your skills, you will search for harder problems.
Acquiring skills is like climbing a ladder. The higher you climb, the wigglier the whole ladder becomes. I think we just become better at dealing with the ups and downs.
Thanks. That’s true. I work in fitness and the more you read about how the body works the more confusing it gets.
I find these initial times the ‘make or break’ times, but my motivation is I know, 100% that if I continue on this path, in 12 months time I’ll be somewhere I never thought I’d be.
It’s easy to forget the small things like I’m able to use media queries without looking them up, a few weeks back I didn’t understand them much, how to write them, always forget the 2x {{}}.
My short term goal is to recreate this page for my photography. I very nearly purchased the template but that’s a bit like a fisherman buying cod from the supermarket!
Just keep learning and when you feel overwhelmed, maybe you should go to gym or do some physical sports which will make you not thinking too much. I have just been doing gym for 4 months and it really worked.
Indeed, I find that just doing something the complete opposite helps and also I want to start getting into a better routine. What I find is that if I’m stuck on an issue I’ll /have/ to try solve it before I go to bed.
In my case, I was overwhelmed seeing the certifications provided, but that was only temporary. Since I had an experience of web development, I was able to complete the course pretty fast and got the certification within a week of starting the course. Whatever field it may be, just move at your pace and acheive your goals one by one.
I feel that we have to learn a lot of new stuff. However, this is something that we have to do day by day to make sure we can grow our knowledge and to make sure we can get better opportunities. If we learn more than one thing, we will be able to be open for more than 1 position. In my case, I’m pretty open for Web Development, Software Development, IT Networking, and Design.
One thing that you can do to practice your skills is to get clients for all of those skills to find things that you like and things that you don’t like.
This is one thing I’m learning from the challenges, yes they’re super frustrating and I spend way to much time finishing them, posting lot’s of questions but at the end of all that annoyance I’ve a much better understanding.
