“I just need to write one sentence today.”
Last night, I went to my first meetup. I’d put 2 other meetups on my calendar in the weeks prior, but always felt too drained after work to venture into the unknown. Even though the topics interested me greatly (one was R, the other was Python) I was intimidated at the thought of having to explain my place in the data science and web development landscapes. The only reason I made myself go last night was social accountability; I’d invited a friend to join me.
The main reasons I invited my friend were 1) to get some social time with him while still being productive, 2) to hold myself accountable for going to this Meetup, and 3) because he is new to coding/programming. I was exhausted after work as usual, but the evening ended up being a really valuable experience for me. The focus of Alex Standiford‘s talk was productivity, motivation, dedication, time management, and various resources related to balancing independent learning with full-time employment. My friend and I talked direction in tech and I got to weigh in on the value of the various languages he could pursue. He got to ask questions about PHP and get some reassurance that the front-end coursework he is taking on Udemy is still relevant to job opportunities that would interest him.
I emailed him the following notes/links this morning:
The two things I wanted to remember to Google:
https://2018.kent.wordcamp.org
This is the web development teacher I like:Jeffrey Way is the php guy that Alex Standiford was recommending last night. I think Laracasts is the main platform he uses for teaching now.He has some stuff on TutsPlus but it looks like there are only a few free resources there.This one from him looks like a bunch of free tutorials with a clear structure & homework:Other resources that seemed free/useful:
