Hello guys,
It’s been so lovely to speak to people over the last few days, what a community! Everyone is so lovely and creative!
I see some names pop-up commonly on each thread and I wondered where you all are on your journey?
Is there a click moment where all of a sudden you know exactly what you don’t know and where to go next?
What are your plans for the next step?
What do you do outside of coding? (And why is it so addictive?!)
Here’s a little about me.
My background is in animal welfare and conservation and I stumbled across coding purely by accident. I thought it would be a nice new hobby but now I realise just how important it is for almost every possible problem known to man, from poverty to climate change. I’ll tell you, it’s really replaced knitting! (RIP to my work- in-progress jumper).
I’ve been working through some smaller courses, not putting pressure on myself, just exploring it and seeing if this is something I could see myself doing long-term and I have not once been bored, it’s all I think about now, all the time. Again, why is it so addictive? When will I have dreams that aren’t in dark mode again? 
Anyway, I’ve been on this journey since April, giving myself enough time to explore code and make fun little follow-along projects and now I want to get serious about it! So, I hope you all see me on the forum more often, and I hope to see where you are on your journeys too!
Happy coding!
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Hello @millicentbowers !
I must commend you on your background in animal welfare and conservation. Congrats on a great real life project.
I have always helped people in one way, or another from the time I was a child. It was how I was raised by my parents. Help others without the expectation of anything in return. My work experience ranges through so many different areas, and I feel blessed to have been able to experience the ups and downs in life to help me grow as a person.
I attempt to be my best and help others.
I am a retired, pushing 70 years old, person who found freeCodeCamp while my short-lived Twitter account suggested I follow somebody’s account because one of my interests is computer programming. When I visited that person’s Twitter posts, I found that I could not help but to check out freeCodeCamp.
When I found their vision to help everybody, in every corner of our world, achieve better lives by offering free training. But, going one step further and offering free ceritification for all courses, I thought I had to support such a great cause, too.
My vision is to help people, locally, find the blessing and enjoyment of coding (seniors and people who do not feel very comfortable in the structured school system). I am not looking to make more money.
PS: Even the Twitter suggestion to follow that person’s account was a blessing. He has been nothing but a great, encouraging, supportive person.
I am currently completing the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures Certification course. I only need to complete the last two lessons, and then on to the projects.
Keep up your great progress and questions.
Happy coding!
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Wow, that’s brilliant!
I truly believe people are inherently good, if that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t feel so good helping others! Do you think you’ll set up an in person coding coffee morning? I feel as though there aren’t as many little local events since covid. How long have you been coding for?
I need someone to sit next to me and make sure I keep writing code in American English! In the CSS color project, I was so unsure as to why the code wasn’t working until I saw it… ‘colour’. This happened an embarrassing amount of times. At some point you have to laugh at yourself!
I’ve never met a nicer bunch of people here too, it’s a fantastic resource to have and so well laid out!
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I plan to see if there can be set up some rooms in some of the seniors independent living buildings so I can have them in a comfortable environment to be relaxed as they start coding.
For others, if they wish, I will go to their home, for desktop users, or meet them in a central location if they use laptop or other mobile devices.
I used to tutor English As A Second Language for several years. I realize how the environment can make the learning easier, or more stressful for people.
I loved your knitting comment, and the RIP to your jumper. lol Great sense of humour.
I, like you, am used to the British spelling of words, though when I was young we started off with the American spelling, it was in the middle years that we switched over, I think. Same with changing from Imperial Measurements to Metric.
What do you plan to do after you learn the coding?
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I’m a senior software engineer currently working in React, Electron, and Go. I found freeCodeCamp around the time I completed my Computer Science degree in 2015. I mostly pop in now and again to try to support the community here.
Outside of work I play TTRPGs, sew quilts, and I’m trying to learn German.
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