Some encouragement for you all

Hi all,

If you follow the community a lot you may have noticed from time to time I come and write a post oozing in self-doubt and I've also posted about why. But instead doing that I wanted to post some tips and encouragement for students who might be in a similar position to me.; who might have a specific learning difficulty that means the way they learn is different to others.

The main thing is, don't let anything, even your self-doubt hold you back from achieving your dreams.

A while ago, I wrote a 5 point list of things for myself to remember while studying to make myself great at coding. I'll try to explain what I mean by each of them.

1. Make every effort to learn the code from memory... with practice. Apply to a project.

Now I'm not always good at this, learning code and taking the time to practice. With my brain it is not always organised enough to stick to plan. Instead, I kind of flit from one topic to the other, reasoning that I can go back to the other topic or project later... and then I end up just moving on again.

Just try. Try to commit code to memory as best you can. And if you can't, at least you can tell yourself you tried.

1. Keep code snippets. What are they for? Where can they be found. Where can they be used.

I have spent my entire 3 years, (I'm coming up to 3 years a Treehouse Student) following the courses and taking notes of what I think are the most relevant and important points. And that includes following on and writing code so you can fall back on it.

Hopefully with time and practice you won't have to write code without looking them up all the time, but if you take the time to write the code., why you need it, and where you can find them, and where to put them in your projects, you'll at least be up and running in no time.

Think of it as an extension of the concept of Bootstrap. The Bootstrap documentation is packed full of useful code snippets for you to pull into your projects and expand on to make your projects your own thing... or to customise them to the needs of your clients. We're in the creative industry and there are so many different ways for us to solve problems. Do what works for you.

1. Even if you don't remember the code... remember concepts.

I find I remember concepts more than I remember specific code. I've been learning code long enough to know that most if not all languages have variables, arrays, functions, Object Oriented approaches.

If I don't remember the specifics of how to write code, I make sure I know how to find the answers.

If you get downhearted as I know I frequently do, it's good to remember that it is as much about knowing how to Google for problems, look up documentation or even ask other developers to help you find the answer. It is absolutely not cheating and a skill in its own right in the coding world.

1. Remember in the tech industry it is okay to ask for help when you needed & not and admission of failure! It's how we learn in this field :)

It's okay to ask for help. If you can find yourself a coding mentor, even better. But asking for help is just another great way to learn. In the same respect don't even worry when you make mistakes. This will only magnify your learning potential.

1. Above all.. take time to practice.

Practice, practice practice and you will learn the skills you need to make your dreams a reality. I may not be at the level I want to be yet but I've already learned new skills I never thought possible in my time with Treehouse. I don't think I'd have come as far as I have with WordPress without it, and I've been able to find good work in WordPress thanks to the skills and time I put into building on them.

• I hope these points have helped and encouraged you.

I know I get down at times, when I'm trying to learn code and sometimes even wonder why I'm putting myself through it. and I'll probably go through it all again... :) But if I can learn, I'm pretty sure you all can too.