Computer Science Failed Once Try Again
In the past x years, I've had three split up experiences trying to larn programming. I've wondered why I've had such unlike results. What had caused me to both neglect and succeed?
I've finally come to an answer!
In all three experiences, there were 3 factors that had the biggest bear on.
I volition take y'all through each experience and bear witness y'all exactly how each factor played a function in whether I failed or succeeded.
Initial failure
I had my outset gustatory modality of programming dorsum when I was eighteen years erstwhile. Fresh out of high school.
First year in university.
This wasn't a computer science or software engineering program. I was in Civil Engineering science. Retrieve buildings and bridges.
Information technology was an introductory informatics form taught in Matlab. All Engineers had to accept information technology.
To exist off-white, if information technology wasn't for my programming friend, I don't think I would have done very well in the class. There were many concepts I merely couldn't grasp. Even with external assist.
I could look back and arraign a million things every bit to why I didn't larn all the concepts. Why I left that form antisocial programming. However, it would only exist a bunch of excuses.
Then why did information technology happen? Why did I neglect?
Besides cool
I failed to learn programming considering I didn't have the desire to learn information technology. Yeah, desire! It was simply a requirement for me. A requirement so I could get my degree.
Nil more than, nothing less.
I didn't WANT to take the class. I HAD to have information technology. That mindset makes a big difference in how you arroyo learning.
The but do good I saw in taking the grade was so I could get my degree. Not to expand my knowledge, or learn something new. I had a airtight mind towards learning how to programme.
No wonder that the finish result was terrible. I had left that class hating programming and never wanting to program again. Information technology had frustrated the heck out of me considering I never got those beginner concepts.
But I had seen the power of programming and what some people were able to exercise with information technology. So I did at least exit the course with a respect for programming.
I just thought that it wasn't for me.
No light
Non having a purpose was the next cistron that determined my failure. To me, I didn't have a purpose beyond a requirement.
My purpose was just to get a skilful grade, and it showed. Years after I finished the class, I had literally forgotten nearly everything. It merely didn't stick in my mind. There was no reason for information technology to.
I had just learned it for the present, and non for the future.
My program was never to learn programming. It was to get through the course. I wanted to get my degree and I had to practise whatsoever that required.
If I had a purpose for this, it would have helped in creating the final factor. Equally purpose alone will not become you lot in that location.
Not important enough
The last factor is motivation. This is as well what I was missing, and what caused me to fail.
When I'm motivated to do something, I don't give up. I will attempt again and again until I figure information technology out. Until I get it right. That is the type of person I am.
So why didn't I use this motto when I couldn't grasp several programming concepts?
It was because I didn't have the motivation.
Why should I have to spend more than time and effort to learn programming when it wasn't fifty-fifty relevant to my degree? I had other more important classes.
Fifty-fifty if I had the want and purpose to learn programming, I didn't have the motivation. I would non have succeeded anyways. I would take given up. I wasn't willing to spend the fourth dimension and dedication required to learn it.
How different were these factors in my side by side attempt?
First Success
Fast forrard to eight years later on. That is nearly how long it took me to endeavour my hand at programming again. Yes…eight years!
It took me a very long time to return.
In the meantime, I had gotten my degree. Took a little flake of fourth dimension off to travel, and worked for several years.
Then I finally came to a point where I wanted to try programming again.
Yes, I wanted to!
You might be thinking… what? Didn't you lot say you hated programming?
Yeah I did, but fourth dimension heals all wounds. Situations modify.
This time effectually things played out differently.
Why?
It all had to do with those iii factors once more.
The limits
This fourth dimension my want to learn programming was starkly unlike. I had a reason. I wanted to learn programming.
How did I become to wanting to learn?
Well, a bit before this point I had started getting into entrepreneurship and reading business books. I was slowly realizing that one day I wanted to accept my ain online business organisation.
I knew that if I wanted to do something online, I should probably larn programming.
Though this wasn't the driving factor why.
The factor actually came from a hurting signal of mine. Over those eight years, I became very skilled at Excel. I was the spreadsheet guy at work.
However, making long if statements in Excel soon became a nuisance.
It started frustrating me.
I knew I could do more if I knew how to program. I could make ameliorate, more than powerful, and easier spreadsheets.
I had merely recently go aware of the power of macros. I had known about macros long before, but never really bothered to effigy out what they were for. And so I put these thoughts together and researched macros.
This atomic number 82 me to realize that I needed to learn VBA for Excel. Which as well meant learning how to program.
So back to programming it was, but this time I had the desire.
It came from the pain of non beingness able to do things in Excel that I wanted. I wanted to do more, merely I couldn't, equally I didn't accept the skills.
Do more
My purpose was very uncomplicated.
I wanted to create more than powerful and easier spreadsheets. As this would help me out at work. Information technology wasn't for some purely selfish reason. It was to make my life at work easier.
I knew I had a project coming up where if I used macros, it would be much simpler.
I was as well actually starting to realize the importance of continued education, and thought this would be a nifty style to increase my skill-set.
With that, and a rough timeline, I set out to acquire VBA for Excel.
I did some research. Found an excellent gratuitous online grade to learn from. Everything was set.
My purpose was to apply programming on my next Excel project.
Finding the joy
I was working total-time and spent most of my day in front end of a reckoner screen. The terminal matter I wanted was to practise more work at home.
I had a mentally exhausting chore and I didn't desire to bleed myself more than. I wanted to rest, recover and enjoy my free time.
Only that wasn't possible.
What I discovered from reading books was that I needed to modify my mindset in society to succeed.
I shifted my priorities and goals. I fabricated learning VBA for Excel a high priority. Everything else that didn't help me become in that location was a waste.
I also looked at this as something that I wanted and enjoyed. As a claiming. Information technology didn't experience like homework, work, or report. I made it enjoyable. Only so did it become like shooting fish in a barrel to plant good habits and consistency.
Having this consistent motivation to larn, I completed the course.
Win!
Some topics/concepts did take me longer to grasp, but I only spent more than time on them.
At work, I also wrote pocket-size VBA programs to solidify my learning. When the project finally came around to me, I was able to use my skills to build a nice, piece of cake-to-use spreadsheet.
I was proud of what I was able to do!
Second Success
While this one is still in progress, I consider it a success. Though it hasn't been easy. In that location was actually a time where I thought I would fail.
Later my first triumph with VBA for Excel, I realized its limits. One large one being that information technology is bound past the Excel environment.
As well effectually this point in my life, I became even more hooked on entrepreneurship. I knew I wanted to create an online business organization so I could finally have the ability to brand my ain website.
I realized that continuing in VBA wasn't the best idea. I needed to learn another programming language.
Afterward doing a bunch of research, I settled on JavaScript.
I establish out that it was a good beginner linguistic communication to learn. Plus it helped that at that place were many great free resource to learn from like freeCodeCamp.
Ix months after my VBA success, I made the commitment to learn JavaScript. I chose to showtime off with the freeCodeCamp curriculum.
Two paths
My desire to continue learning programming this time was twofold. 1 was and then that I could eventually build a website and start an online business. This desire was a want.
The other came from reading many inspirational books, and I finally just wanted to do something. I just got tired of learning and wanted to act.
These 2 reasons were the driving force in continuing my journeying to learn programming.
Drawing a blank
This time effectually, I really didn't have a specific purposee — as in, I wanted to acquire programing to do X. Or I wanted to exercise X after I learned programming.
I only idea that information technology would exist useful to know and then I could make a website one twenty-four hour period. I didn't take anything specific in mind.
Why non
My motivation was really a flake weak. It came from two things:
One was from not having anything better to do. The other was to keep learning and so 1 day I could build a website, or a web app.
If yous take noticed, this was a reoccurring theme in my life — building a website.
This time I didn't accept that super loftier motivation. I recollect role of the motivation was riding a bit of a loftier from my VBA programming success.
I had some confidence built upwardly and used this equally my motivation.
I had a weak version of all three factors accounted for. I idea this would exist enough to achieve success. However, after accumulating around 190 points in freeCodeCamp, I hit a stump.
Setback
I plant the early lessons in the freeCodeCamp curriculum easy to grasp. Nevertheless, before long these little exercises were taking longer and longer to do. They were condign a lot more challenging.
When the exercises got besides challenging, I switched over to work on my offset projection.
This only made me experience overwhelmed. Lost. Discouraged. I didn't know what to exercise or how to get-go.
In the meantime, I was also pushing myself downwardly the entrepreneur path. I had recently come up with an idea for an invention.
This is when I started to have an inner conflict between programming and entrepreneurship.
As programming got more hard, my want to work on my invention took over. So I gave up on programming.
I pursued the invention, and later on many months, I failed at that too. I had even made a epitome. It wasn't until I started talking to people about the idea where I found out some horrifying news.
Someone told me that the invention already existed!
I was in disbelief. I checked, and sure enough it was true. I was heartbroken.
I went back to the drawing board. Dorsum to reading/learning nigh entrepreneurship.
Six months passed before I decided to brainstorm another stint of doing. It was another business organization idea. And some other failure.
Getting back on track
It really took around one total yr before I decided to go dorsum to learning JavaScript through the freeCodeCamp curriculum.
I had done a petty scrap of learning here and there, but zilch was consequent. None of those attempts were serious.
That is, until my mindset changed.
Using my frustration
My want didn't modify a whole lot, but information technology had a significant impact.
I no longer had as stiff of a want to do things. I didn't want to force myself to pursue (practise) some other concern idea. I wanted it to come up more naturally.
Then I pushed "doing something" (in terms of business concern) down in priority.
Don't get me wrong, though. I nevertheless had the desire to practise something, only information technology e'er seemed to come down to one alibi.
That I didn't know how. How to make a website. How to programme.
This is where my new desire came from.
FRUSTRATION!
Frustration that I wasn't able to programme my own website so I could test out time to come business organization ideas. This limiting cistron really bellyaching me.
Then I set out to alter that. I used frustration to provide me the fuel to go back and continue with programming.
Looking across
This time around, I had a purpose. Information technology had just taken me awhile to figure it out. Information technology was simple, but powerful.
My purpose was to go back and keep to learn programming so that I could change careers.
I didn't want to continue in my technology field. I wanted to have my own online concern. Nevertheless, if I couldn't accomplish that goal, I wanted to accept programming equally my new career. Because I knew I would be happier working equally a developer, or front-stop web developer, than equally an engineer.
So now I had two reasons.
- My pain desire of not being able to make my own website.
- My discovered purpose of wanting to have programming as a fallback career, assuming that I wasn't successful in online business concern.
Either way, I needed programming for both.
This made learning how to program (in JavaScript) critical and very important in my life.
No looking dorsum
My motivation at present came from wanting a amend future. I that I would be happier in. One that I would enjoy.
Subsequently all, what is life without happiness?
I saw learning how to programme as a style to atomic number 82 me there. I got a new perspective. I also inverse my mindset. Information technology wasn't something that I WANTED to do, but something that I needed to practise.
This one word makes all the divergence. A must do ways that there is no other alternative.
While I haven't quite reached this goal yet, I know that I've gotten far enough over the hump that I will succeed. Information technology is but a matter of time.
I as well used several boosted resource to freeCodeCamp the second time around.
This allowed me to pick upwardly different bits of data that I hadn't fully grasped. Using multiple resources only helped me to solidify my learning.
I'm currently still working towards getting my front end-end evolution certificate. I've completed all of the algorithm problems and only have seven projects remaining.
Conclusion
To summarize, continue these iii factors in mind the adjacent time yous want to achieve success.
Desire
- A pain want is more powerful than a desire desire. Use that to your reward.
Purpose
- Have a valuable purpose. To help someone else, to do something to improve your life, or to create a do good for yourself/others.
This helps with the final factor.
Motivation
- Brand something important enough to y'all so y'all must exercise it and non only want to do information technology.
- Make it a consistent habit to work towards your goal.
- Eliminate waste or things that agree you back from getting at that place.
Did you lot find this article helpful? Are yous currently aspiring to accept your own online business? Then I'd dearest to connect with you on Twitter.
Y'all might as well desire to check out my CreateYourTale community. It'southward a identify where aspiring online entrepreneurs help each other out. Each are striving to reach their goal of creating a successful online business organisation.
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Computer Science Failed Once Try Again
Source: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-failure-to-success-in-programming-and-what-got-me-there-7bfe151b30ef/