It has come to my notice that as I was writing about my motivation for learning how to code one slipped off my mind. A month ago, I have stumbled upon Halt and Catch Fire totally by chance (it was love at first sight). I have always known I had a nerdy nature, and with one episode, all the nerdiness was prompted to run through my veins and I started consuming them all; one after another.
Set in the early 1980s in Dallas, Halt and Catch Fire (apparently named after an early computer command for a restart) is a very engaging tv-series with a focus on the early days of computer industry.
Telling a fictional narrative on how an entrepreneur sought a role in the PC wars, Halt and Catch Fire employs a very Mad Men-like plot (yet far better with all the technical milestones and the ambiguity of 80s). Convinced by Joe (the mysterious but highly charming ex IBM worker), Gordon Clark (a dull engineer who has failed many times and projects a very depressive image) tries to reverse-engineer an IBM PC. With the participation of Cameron (a rebellious programming genius with a marginal nature) the battle starts.
I must confess the existence of so many technical things that I couldn't just comprehend but I believe to have fallen in love with the magical simplicity of coding and the sparkling enthusiasm it had meant.
Living in an age where we just consume without looking into further details, this story of Genesis thrilled me genuinely.
As I am moving on with my coding work I want to get back to the core of my motivation. In an earlier post, I have mentioned the famous initiative Computer Science for all and how Obama encouraged young people to code by saying "Don't just play on your phone- program it". I may not be that ambitious but certainly I have my reasons and own motivation to jump into this world.
First of all, there is nothing like a good challenge. I have always been one of those romantics trying to revitalize the Renaissance-man (WOMAN) idea, that's the very reason behind my constant urge to learn something, to have an idea about something. The fact that I earn my living by teaching does not ease the situation but multiply it as then comes the "I need to be a role model" thing, more than that I have always had a great respect for my teachers who had great wisdom and intellectual capacity (obviously) and I like having the same effect on my students (It had made great sense to me when I learned about the concept "expert authority").
I must admit that another reason that triggers me into coding is fear or let's say anxiety. The anxiety that I will fall behind the present. The anxiety that I will not be able to speak the same language with my students (also my boyfriend).
If I manage to combine my present skills and expertise with coding and finally be able to create something that would be a fortunate stroke of serendipity but not something I am aiming for at this very moment. An alternative career expectation; therefore, is out of the picture (but you never know).
So, what I mean by all this is that the essence of my motivation is primarily the pure hunger for knowledge and curiosity. Let's see if I will be able to make something more out of it! :)
So this is what I have done so far:
Apparently, CS is a big hell of an ocean for me (see, I have already started using the acronyms: like a boss!). I spent a long time on Google trying to come up with my path into coding and I though that it would be a good idea to choose a programming language first. I must give credit to this post: https://www.codementor.io/learn-programming/beginner-programming-language-job-salary-community as it helped me greatly and convinced me to start with Python! (it was a clever choice to put this blog entry as a supporting evidence: http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/176450-python-is-now-the-most-popular-introductory-teaching-language-at-top-us-universities/fulltext Talk to me with facts baby!)
Currently I am working at both courses provided by 2 different websites.
https://www.codecademy.com
It is pretty easy to use. Exercises are not always meaningful as it aims for you to acquire the mechanical skill first (I assume). Hints and feedbacks are useful but the correct answer is not given so it is: "try! try harder!"
https://www.datacamp.com/courses?learn=python_programming
The video lectures are purposefully arranged to provide a contextual basis. The fact that you lose experience points when you ask for hints or the correct answer is kind of challenging (might be de/motivating for some users)
What I have learned from my studies so far is that I SUCK AT MATH! (well, it's no news Earth! It feels so much like high school, damn!)
I proudly present my current status as a newbie coder:
I was pretty inspired when I heard Barack Obama announced the new initiative "Computer Science for all" (in case you are like "what the hell is she talking about" here is the link with details of the programme: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/30/computer-science-all). I should mention here that I am not an American citizen and actually I live quite far from the continent and I am aware that in a country where we could not manage our kids to learn English as a second languages despite the long years of education (which seem so ideal but not working anyhow) it is pretty impossible to implement such a programme. However, I have to admit that I really admire the mindset.
As a graduate of Humanities with a Literature major, I have to say that I am very (REALLYYY) far from computer science; nevertheless, the idea of learning coding did excite me very much.
I was like "if kids are going to learn this stuff in public schools, I can learn it too!"
So my journey begins.
For a very inspiring Ted Talk on the matter: http://www.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code
After a long time without writing anything on my blog (which gives away my inconsistent and unsustainable nature), I am back!
As years passed since my last blog entry, I have grown up (totally! are you buying this?) I have decided to adopt a new approach and instead of trying to get back at karma I will try to show some progress (hopefully).
This doesn't mean I have been having a disastrous life; I have had good moments bad moments but found a way to keep myself so busy that I wouldn't even have the time to push the pause button and reflect on what I have been doing. So yes.. That's what we will see a lot here, reflection :)
Wish me luck!
