Robbi Clafton

Yesterday I finally set up the blog online and posted the first entry that I had written earlier this week. My goal is to write an entry every day. Last night during the bootcamp, Leon told us to tell someone in our lives about our commitment to learning to code and becoming a full stack developer. This will help keep us accountable. Then he said we needed to tell everyone. He told us to go onto our social media and announce that we were software engineers focusing on front end developing. I hesitated. Not sure why, but it felt scary. Instead, I replied to someone else’s tweet from the class who announced it, saying I was on the same journey. It felt like a cop out, but something was holding me back.

Today, a high-profile developer influencer started a thread asking people who did not have a lot of followers to post a photo of themselves and announce something interesting about them or to post a goal. I saw that post this morning but did not post. Until tonight. I finally got the courage up and posted a photo with a description of myself as a former nurse transitioning into tech, documenting my journey as a “mature” person making the jump. I was still nervous about it, but I think it’s steps like that which I need to do. It pushes me out of my comfort zone, but it also puts it out there to the universe that I am a software developer. I’m ready to start making the changes I need to see this through.

Tonight, is day #2 of my bootcamp. I believe we are delving into HTML. I’m excited, but don’t think I’m going to learn too much new stuff. I have already played around with HTML quite a bit, so I already understand the basics. Since the bootcamp is geared towards beginners, there’s probably going to be a lot that I’ve already done myself. However, I am no expert so going over the basics will be good for me.

I’m noticing some participants on Twitter and Discord trying to form groups to interact with, and I’m a bit hesitant to join in. I think part of my resistance is because I’m an introvert, but also because I don’t want to get distracted from the course itself or the work I need to do. I’d love to make connections and friends in this course, but that is not my primary target. I think I’ll wait to see who’s still around in a couple of weeks and who’s really committed to the process before worrying about social interactions. The Twitch stream had over 7,000 people on it at one point Tuesday. I know we’ll see significant drop-off soon, so I’m going to wait and see how the numbers shake out.

I received notification yesterday that I passed my background check for my new job. I also got a note from my new boss that my computer has shipped out and should be arriving Saturday. I’m going to have to rearrange my office to have a workstation separate from my personal computer again. I’m also thinking I’m going to set up a whiteboard or calendar for organizing a schedule of to-do tasks each week. This coming week is my last week of freedom before starting the job, so I’m wanting to use the time wisely. I have been reading/watching the videos for the bootcamp homework about smart studying tips. It’ll be interesting to see how useful it is over the next few months.

Last night was night #1 of my bootcamp. We didn’t code, though the instructor did explain & walk through some HTML. He spent most of the time walking us through an overview of the program, the community, his expectations, and some guidelines. He also gave us some tips for more effective learning. I felt encouraged and supported. I’m looking forward to interacting more with people on the Discord forums.

January 11, 2022

Years ago, I kept a journal. I wrote in it every evening before I went to bed. It was a routine, and it felt good. Every night, I climbed into bed and pulled my journal from my bedside table and started to write. I’m not sure when I started doing it, but by my late 20s it was a firm habit. I’d write about what had happened that day or what I was looking forward to the next.

Sometime after I got married, I stopped writing in a journal. I’m not sure why, but my routine was so different, and the journal just somehow didn’t fit in.  I had someone to talk to about my day and share all those thoughts with, so writing them down didn’t seem so important. It actually felt weird to sit in bed next to my husband and write in a journal about him and what was happening in our lives. So eventually, I just stopped.  Many times, over the years, I’ve thought about starting it again. I even bought new journals. But somehow it never happened.

Now I’m about to start a new chapter in my life, so it seemed like a good time to start a journal again. I’m going to try a blog again, but this time it will be focused on me and my daily life. This blog is meant to focus on my journey as I transition into tech. Tonight will be day #1 of my coding bootcamp.

I’m starting a web development bootcamp so I can learn to code and transition into tech. There’s going to be loads of changes in my life over the next few months, and I want to document this. So, day #1 of bootcamp, day # of my new online journal.