<p>Hello world!</p>

Just like me, that was probably your first line of code. Whether it was written between the angle brackets of a p tag or within single quotes in Javascript.

As time goes on you discover that Hello World is honestly as easy as it gets. Your tech journey is different from all others but just like anybody else’s there will be challenges.

I do not have the answer to most of them but here are five things I did that made my journey easier.

Dwelling on the basics

starting web development all I heard was react. I wanted to delve into it but I went for the basics first. I would have been lost anyway. I spent about four months on the basics. Quite long but I can assure you that it comes in handy later on. Surprisingly, I ended up on the vuejs train.

Crushing the bugs

From the first day, I began to code I got to know bugs existed but I never really took time to learn what they were. Eventually, I had to take a test that required debugging knowledge. I had no choice so I went all in. Since then I could identify bugs in my code and fix them successfully about 80% of the time

Joining a community

Being a loner always appeals to me. This meant that I started off doing everything alone. After a few months, I joined some communities and it helped me:

• Access more resources

• Get help whenever I needed it

• Learn to work in a tech team

All three have gone a long way in helping me and looking back I wish I had joined immediately I started.

Taking leaps

I was trying to learn at a suitable pace but this did not stop me from going for things that were clearly above level. The highlight of these was the HNG internship. I struggled and struggled and eventually got kicked out at stage four. I did not make it to the end but it transformed my tech journey. I also discovered tech in a new way and got a good feel of the ecosystem.

Having support

At many points in my tech journey, I have felt like giving up. Sometimes I am not able to push myself so I reach out to those who believe in me. I share my problems and every time they help me tackle them and keep going with renewed hope. At some point, this might be you so you should find support even if it is just from one person.

These have worked for me but they might not for you. As you discover tech, find what works for you also. It might be the complete opposite, but whatever you do not give up!