Week six

As I sit down to write this, I can’t believe it’s already been six weeks. It feels like we just started, yet, somehow, it also feels like months have passed.

That first week of September, when the sun was still shining brightly and summer’s warmth lingered in the air, feels so distant now. Autumn has arrived, bringing cold winds and rain. Thankfully, the sun still makes occasional appearances, which is nice.

This week started with me staying home, completely exhausted. I could barely get out of bed. On Tuesday, I woke up with a fever and a sore throat. It was stressful to think about all the things I’d miss at school, but I knew I had to let go and focus on recovering.

By Friday, I was finally well enough to return to class, but by then, I had missed two PHP lessons and one in Digital Design. I’m not too worried about the design class, but those PHP loops… let’s just say I still don’t fully understand them, and I’ll leave it at that.

Week five

I'm happy to share that I ended up with a "good enough" logo at last. The presentation of it was this Thursday and I think it went quite well. I decided to go with a rabbit for my logo, since I'm a former bunny mom and rabbits mean the world to me. I also managed to pick a warm color palette, spanning from the lightest beige to the darkest brown, which enables the logo (and future site designs) to be made in both dark and light mode.

What else happened this week? To be honest, I don't quite remember. I'm just glad that the logo is done.

Week four

Last week (or was it the week before that?) we got to register domain names and hosting plans for a year, free of charge, through the school. I'm really happy about that! This week we got to deploy some content to our sites. Over the years, I've had several different sites and blogs running, so I basically already knew the drill. And it seems like not much has changed when it comes to deployment – you still use FTP or upload files directly through the file manager.

The deployment lesson, however, inspired me to update my site. I've already created five different designs for it, but it's tough to decide which one I like best. Scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration only makes it harder! And figuring out what content to add is just as challenging. I don't want my site to just be a lot of text about "me, myself and I" but, unfortunately, my portfolio is still pretty empty…

Week three

It's been a good week. It didn't feel as long as the last two. I guess I'm starting to settle into the routine of being a student again.

So far, the PHP lessons have been manageable. It's mostly things like, "create a variable and echo it inside a string". Nothing too difficult, though, I know we're just scratching the surface. I can't help but feel a bit nervous about what's coming next. We've already been given extra assignments, and I've tried working through them even though we haven't covered everything yet. The jump in difficulty, however, feels a bit overwhelming.

That said, I did manage to create a rock-paper-scissors game (with a little help from ChatGPT). I made it into Sheldon's version: rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. That made it less intimidating, and a lot more fun!

This week, we also had our second Digital Design lesson. Last week, we got familiar with Figma, and now we've been assigned to create our own personal logos. I find it challenging, because it begs the question: "Who am I?" Moreover, what kind of typeface and colorscheme feel like "me"? I usually enjoy design work and used to love spending hours in Photoshop, but this assignment feels so personal, it’s a bit daunting. Still, I’m confident I’ll figure it out. I'll just have to lower my standards and make it "good enough".

Week two

Ever heard of GitHub? Back when I was teaching myself HTML and CSS, I'd occasionally stumble upon it while googling things. But I never really understood how it worked or what it was for. As of Monday, though, I know a lot more. It still doesn't make complete sense to me, but it's no longer just a name I recognize. It seems pretty cool, and I wish I'd learned more about it sooner.

By the way, did you know there are naming conventions called camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case, and even kebab-case? I've always used the kebab one since I mainly worked with HTML and CSS, but I had no idea it actually had a name. I think that's kind of funny and rather "techy".

Speaking of HTML and CSS, our class had its first encounter with them this Friday. While it wasn't new to me, I still picked up a few things I didn't know before. Apparently, a lot has changed over the past five to ten years. I'm glad I already know the basics well enough, as it makes it easier to further build upon.

On a different note, this week has felt endless. By Tuesday, it already felt like it should be Thursday, or maybe even Friday. I think it's my own fault, though. I haven't been able to step away from the computer when I get home from school. I've been spending a lot of time writing HTML and CSS. It's been a while and I've really missed it!

Week one

Wow, what a week!

On Monday, twenty-seven strangers gathered in a small, windowless classroom, united by a shared goal: to embark on the journey of becoming web developers. I was one of them, and to my relief, I felt right at home.

Even though we haven't started coding yet, we've gotten acquainted with the Terminal and I already feel like a low-key hacker. On top of that, I've been busy getting to know the cool people in my class. And I don't just say that, everyone seems genuinely friendly and interesting.

I'm excited to see what next week brings!