!date
Mon Sep 12 09:33:51 PM EDT 2022
this one feels like a letter.
been a minute wonderful web wanderer.
hope you're doing well.
I've been itching to write a blog post for awhile and couldn't come up with anything but was recently challenged to do it and also got to experience something really cool that I'm not sure I have given much attention to before.
I have spent the better part of the last several years working on programming and data analytics and through that, have time and time again tried to convince my friends and, maybe at a certain time, anyone who would listen, that they should learn how to program.
Seems like a good idea - I mean, I had already started learning so I could help guide my friends through the correct resources, they could ask me questions, and on top of it all if I had to teach them something then that would be the best practice to
This was also a time in my life where I thought my advice, because of how I felt about it in my experience, was the BEST advice. Unsolicited advice however is not usually taken, even by good friends.
I could never convince outright any of my friends to code with me even though some now are attempting to learn. They had to find it in their own journey.
But this blog post isn't about giving or receiving advice. Well maybe kind of but different.
Selfishly, I wanted my friends to learn coding/programming so I could get better at it as well. I figured if I could get my nuclear group around me to be interacting and interfacing about programming all the time, it would create a pretty awesome environment.
I play video games (context). I have friends all over the country and a group of us get on every so often for some shenanigans. I have met people through my friends online and play with these people too online.
One of these people's is my friend's cousin(/something or another) and he just started taking courses in computer science.
My friend told him that I was a programmer.
He asked if he could get my number to ask me some questions
And the other day I had the opportunity to help him out with some computer science homework that, because of where I was at in my journey - I was able to easily assist with this coursework without simply giving out answers.
And I have to say that through this whole time of learning programming, there hasn't been a better moment ever than when I have helped someone get a program working.
The whole reason I wanted to get into data analysis all those years ago was to be in a position where I do get to work on really interesting things with different kinds of people and implicitly, will always be in a position where my work is to help someone understand something, how to build a common vernacular to collaborate and solve a problem.
The best part isn't even having the opportunity to help but there are things in the way that a beginner looks at things and throws something into the works that changes every previous perspective you've had on something. And can say something simple but amazing that just sticks with you.
Even with my friend('s cousin but we'll just call him my friend now), since he was asking me questions this week, I felt naturally more motivated to keep up with my coursework as well.
So I hope that was warm and fuzzy and you garner some philsophical nuance from all of that and you are now eternally inspired and you solve world hunger and create sustainable energy and eradicate pollution.
Or do something else great. Like help someone.
Other than that - I'm working on a few courses right now and I hope to have some projects out soon that I can talk about at the internet.
But that's all for tonight.
Thanks for reading.