Five lessons learned while learning to Code

CC: Visualize Value

I’ve always wanted to code but I never knew what the ‘right’ path was.

I tried many online courses, failed two Introduction to Computer Science (CS) courses at university over the course of five years. Last year I took the dive to do deeper and landed a full-time software engineering (SWE) job in San Francisco.

I am very still early in my career but wanted to share my learning lessons for anyone curious about this path.

TLDR: It took me five years to listen to my intuition to commit to coding/programming. Sometimes the voice in your head is soft but learn to lean into it.

Learn how you learn.

During my Introduction to CS university course, I struggled a lot due to two things. The lack of persistence and rote-learning. This was an important learning lesson in my life because it put me in a spiral of doubt and low self-esteem. I felt identity shock and confused about why I couldn’t solve my problem sets and understand the theory. So after this point, I had to relearn ‘how to learn’. I spent more time understanding how I digest information better.

The free course by Barbara Oakley was very useful as it articulated how each individual learns using mental models. I also read how different scientists and entrepreneurs approach certain…