I just wanted to reach out and let everyone in this community know how much they mean to me. I didn’t realize just how special this place is until last night.
I am a diagnosed high-functioning autistic individual. I was diagnosed at 21 after having incredible difficulty at normal educational endeavors. The classroom environment was not the place for me but I knew I wasn’t dumb. I had been a computer tech since I was 16 at the local computer shop. I used to look all over the internet for a reliable place to get an all inclusive education to software development but I couldn’t find one that had sticking power to keep me going. After much internet crawling for opinions, I found fCC and I never looked back.
I’m still working on my JavaScript cert but even with the first “Responsive Web Design” cert I was able to become the WebMaster of my local computer shop’s web page that was totally abandoned before. While I still don’t have enough experience to be qualified for this job outside of this opportunity, they are really thankful for anything I do since the website was totally unmanaged before.
As I continue on my journey to higher career aspirations, I will always consider this to be the incubation stage for my new outlook. If not for this place, I’m not sure what I would be doing right now to further my future career plans if anything at all.
Finally, I would like to speak highly of the exceptionally supportive community that has been fostered here. While I had tried other resources before, I typically was met with the dreaded line “A simple google search would have shown you…” and it made me feel dumb. Now I realize that google is only a good resource if you know what to look for. Sometimes you need someone kind to look over your shoulder and point you in the right direction to get some traction again. That is exactly what this community has been to me and I am very grateful for it.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a fruitful 2019!. I know when I think back to this year, fCC will be among the top things I think about.
Sincerely,
Joseph G.