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Navigating the World of Web Development

Debra-Kaye Elliott on November 18, 2020

Near the end of 2019 after a discovery glimpse on Twitter, I decided to explore the tech world πŸ‘©πŸΎβ€πŸ’». Like any curious person does, I went down the ...
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adiatiayu profile image
Ayu Adiati β€’

Great one, Debra!
I can relate to how you feel πŸ™‚
I feel that "Can I do this?" too, especially when I realize that some of people that I know start from the same phase are way ahead than me. It's just frustrating.

Until I finally accepted that people journeys are different. Also this is a marathon and not a sprint.
Once there was said in VC "Comparing (yourself and other people) steals the joy!"
And that's so true!

So from now ahead, let's enjoy the ride to reach there! 😊

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

Thanks so much Ayu! It's really comforting knowing that other very new devs feel the same way and that I'm not alone πŸ™πŸΎ. Sometimes it's discouraging and frustrating when I don't understand many concepts yet, but I always try to get back up 😌.

Let's do this! πŸ‘ŠπŸΎ

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Chioma Vera Nkanmuo β€’

I so much I can relate to your story, few weeks ago I was down "imposter syndrome", it took me days to come out of it, that feeling that's others are doing great, why are you moving at a slow pace ..., it kills alot. One thing I learnt and that how was able to pull through the feeling, is that I am in no competition with no one, the most important thing is I strive to be better everyday.

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

This! The "Why are you moving so slow" thinking had me beating myself up for weeks! It took me talking to other (more advanced and experienced) developers and them literally convincing me it's okay, to stop comparing myself, learn at my own pace and be in competition only with myself to realise it is in fact okay.

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Chioma Vera Nkanmuo β€’

And please, what is this "tech Twitter" you mentioned

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

If you're on Twitter, you can find several inspiring developers you can follow and learn from on your journey. Definitely recommend!

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nkanmuo_vera profile image
Chioma Vera Nkanmuo β€’

Oh OK thanks

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Jai Marshall β€’

I think this is something we all go through. I'm going through it too. My computer crashed three times this year. It's tough. We will get through it.

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Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

It's comforting knowing that everyone goes through this. It's like I know that the more I improve the less newbie I'll feel, but as a real newbie right now it's tough. But gonna keep at it.

I can only imagine how tough it's been for you with your computer 😞. I hope things are looking up and you're back on the journey. We can do this!

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coderjai profile image
Jai Marshall β€’

Thank you and good luck to you too!

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Macimosh β€’

"Fear is the mind killer" - Dune, Frank Herbert: haven't finished reading it. That quote pretty much sums up my Web Development career so far. Your story resonated with me because It's pretty much what I do to myself, it's like some sort of self destruction loop. I've started #100daysofCode a few times and each time get to about day 15, struggle with what to tweet, in seeps the fear of being caught out as being some sort of "fake web developer" and I disappear from Twitter, delete all my tweets then start again a couple of weeks later hoping nobody noticed, and then the cycle continues.

I've got two Udemy courses in different stages of completion, I did complete Advanced CSS which was great, but it's always the Javascript courses that I get the "Imposter Syndrome" feelings again and everything gets dropped for Netflix, Xbox and records.

Everyone says that building a network can help on Twitter and places like Dev, supporting other developers regardless of their level and support will come back to you.

I took the extra step of pushinng myself out there and offered my services free of charge to 2 people I thought might need websites. One is live and they're even buying hosting from me. Such a good feeling to see something you've put together yourself and will actually hep someone else's business.

We, as beginner developers.....or just web developers really, we just need to root for each other. So good luck in your journey and I look forward to seeing more of your posts

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

I think I've lost count of how many times I've started and fell off #100DaysOfCode. I'm still at CSS and haven't started JavaScript yet and I'm scared already, lol. But the dev community on Twitter has been amazing in helping me stay on the web development journey this time around and not giving up. Support is key - 100% agree.

Thanks for reading! Let's keep going!

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Annie πŸ¦„βš‘ β€’

Props for being vunerable and sharing this. You're doing great Debra-Kaye!! Think of 100Days as a continuous journey where you track each day you code, if that helps... That's what I'm doing because I want to finish it but also, burn-out is real... 😬

Also, I wish I had heard of Tech Twitter at the beginning of my journey! (Found them just under my one year mark) Play the long term game: Your small actions will add up and a year later you'll look back and barely recognise where you started from πŸ€—πŸ’ͺ

You absolutely got this!!! πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ’―

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

Thank you so much Annie! The encouragement from Tech Twitter has been so great and is definitely what has kept me going πŸ™πŸΎ

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Kirk Shillingford β€’

Thank you for sharing. I think a lot of newer developers can relate to this journey. And a lot of the seasoned ones can probably remember these feelings as well!

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Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

Thank you so much Kirk! Definitely many bumps on this journey, but grateful for the support πŸ™πŸΎ

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Nick Taylor β€’

Congrats on your first post!

You did it!

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Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

Thanks so much Nick! πŸ™πŸΎ

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Obot, D. U. πŸ‘¨πŸ½β€πŸ’»πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬ β€’

This is me😒. At a point I felt I'll need tutoring in person but not any longer. I'mma learn coding, ask questions if stuck and become better by the day. Currently learning CSS tooπŸ˜‰.

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debrakayeelliott profile image
Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

So happy I'm not the only one struggling. I also wished I had an in-person tutor, but then thought "What if I don't learn as fast as they'd like or think I should? Are they going to be impatient and fed up?" I beat myself up a lot. It's only now it's started to sink in that majority of things won't click now, and if I give up again I won't ever get it.

Love that you're learning CSS too! We got this! πŸ‘ŠπŸΎ

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Debra-Kaye Elliott β€’

I learned C++ years ago, but never used it and don't remember how to use it now, lol.

Thanks for reading! πŸ™‚