Hi! I'm a 2018 FCC Top Contributor new to the FCC Forums! :)

Actually, just kidding—I’ve been lurking creepily around here learning about all of you and your struggles for a while now. But it’s time to come out of the shadows. :slight_smile: So I’ll introduce myself, because I plan on posting and actually responding here now with what I know!

I’m Nicole, and I’m a front-end developer. I used to work in Customer Service until 2015, when I lost my job and decided to teach myself to build websites. 3.5 years later, I’ve started a blog, had my first dev job, freelanced, started a podcast, and now have planted myself in educational technology and e-Learning.

I’m not even an amazing developer. I’ve worked through Treehouse, FCC, Coursera, Udemy, W3Schools… but I’m also a cautionary tale when it comes to building projects. I was learning fast enough to get hired by 6 months in if I had just built more alongside learning. At the end of the day, it was my knowledge and willingness to learn that even got me my first job.

You may have seen me on #CodeNewbie chat, too. Indeed, I show up there fairly regularly, and host my own Twitter chat #CodersTeachingCoders (ugh so long) on Weds nights at 7PM. Anyone teaching or learning coding is welcome to discuss fun topics and get to know others in the industry!

I do a lot offline for the community, as well. Quincy awarded me Top Contributor status this year for organizing and facilitating the MetroWest MA freeCodeCamp group for a little over 2 years now. I’m so blessed to be a part of an amazing community of brilliant people. And it’s absurd that I’m just making my official appearance here now, because I should have done this years ago.

So what do I do now? I just launched my first “prep” course for self-taught web development career changers.

If that sounds super specific, it’s because that’s me in a nutshell. I know all about making this change. And I know what I didn’t get—problem solving and autodidactic skills. I had to re-learn how to learn. Now I hold students’ hands and help them build those skills so they can make their transition even faster than I did.

So, hi everyone! Enough about me, though. I have a lot of knowledge in different areas and I want to offer it to people that need it. Especially those who are brand new to this industry, because that’s one of the places I felt the deepest confusion.

Feel free to hit me up if you need help with things like:

  • Understanding what the front end does
  • Identifying a dev role to pursue (don’t just learn disconnected skills like I did please)
  • Building HTML and CSS skills, and how JavaScript fits in with them
  • Facing difficulty actually breaking down and solving the algorithm problems you’re facing
  • Soft skills that can seriously help get you jobs—even when you don’t think you know enough
  • Finding a web development mentor (I know a lot of dope, helpful devs!)
  • Starting a blog, podcast, or creating your own programming course

Heck, I know a lot more than that. I’m on Twitter—where tech happens—@lavie_encode, so feel free to follow and just shoot me a question if you have one.

So nice to meet you all, and can’t wait to start getting to know you better. :slight_smile:
N

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Dang it. Wanna like this one TWICE. :wink:

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Massachusetts represent! :blush:

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Hi @lavieencode, reformed lurkers are always welcome :slight_smile:

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Welcome to the forums, it is very inspiring to read your story and I certainly do have several questions, especially about community building/integration, creating a following etc. Would it be possible to send you an e-mail? If you don’t want to post that on a public forum then feel free to drop me a line at ravendevelopment@protonmail.com

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work!