If I had It To Do Again…

In my daily porusing of sites related to ruby and rails I came upon a wordpress blog…

Erik Brooke’s Blog and I really enjoyed reading it. The post that brought me there was becoming a junior rails dev. I am always interested in how people got to where they are, and he chronicles that here.

What’s also quite useful are some of the resources that he links to (hint: check those out, there are really good).

It got me thinking about what I would do if I had to do it all again…

Here is what I came up with;

1. I would have tried to become a web dev sooner

I was always concerned that I wasn’t really technical. Sure I was an analyst, and I wrote sql scripts…but I never felt like a developer. In turn, I didn’t think of myself as one and I didn’t learn like one. I was interested in python and web development, but I didn’t go to the meetups, and felt that I needed to master sql before moving on. This is stupid. I should have just did it. Nike is right about that.

2. I would have calmed down a little in bootcamp

It was hard, and I knew that going in. What I didn’t know was that I didn’t need to be a student, like how I was used to being a student. I should have relaxed more and not beat myself up so much about know everything the second it was taught to me. I still struggle with this one. I have been a perfectionist for wayyyyy to long.

3. I would have still started with Rails

I might be bias, but the more I learn about rails, the more I learn…period. I learn more about front end. I have become better at javascript, I am soon to start learning ember. Html and CSS are in my blood. I learn more about Ruby, and why its so awesome. I related new languages to Ruby, and new web frameworks to Rails. Its stable, it works, it teaches me.

4. I would have keep doing the prework…everyday

After I started bootcamp, the pre-work continued to help me understand the new topics. If i had this to do again, I would have done some everyday, no matter the assignment. These building blocks are so important. Now that bootcamp is over, I go back to these to learn and re-learn again. Practice makes permanent.

5. I would have been more concrete on how I learn

Now I am in the process of learning how to learn and understanding how I, in particular, like to learn. The more that I learn these things the more I understand what it is that I need. I didn’t have this information before and I think that it led to more frustration than necessary. Now I know that I need to zoom in (drill down to the problem) and zoom out (more holistic perspective) to gain true understanding, I know that this process doesn’t all happen in a day. I expect that it may sometimes take me longer, but if I am to completely understand…then I have to go through the entire process.

6. I would have started a blog before all of this

Writing this blog has helped me work out some things in my head. You got to get things straight before you just start randomly writing. So If I would have started out by blogging, I think that I would have arrived at a lot of these conclusions much sooner.

Just my 2 cents based on my journey so far. I wonder if I will feel the same way about all of my shoulds in a year or so.