Have you ever attempted to code and failed miserably?
You sign up for an online course that claims to teach you “everything you need to know about programming” with enthusiasm, but after it is through, you feel even more lost than you did before.
You feel dread, anxiety, and poor self-esteem because there is this barrier that you are unable to overcome.
While you struggle to develop even one program without consulting an online tutorial, you observe in awe how others make programming appear so simple — this coder had job offers from Twitter, Microsoft, and Amazon.
You are not alone if you experience this. Five years ago, I was in a similar scenario.
I’d like to relate an eye-opening experience that altered my perspective on studying programming before I go into the steps I took to become a programmer.
Watch this if you’d like a video version:
The genius who failed at programming
I used to be friends with this boy in school; he shall be referred to as “Dylan” for the remainder of this essay.
I’ve known Dylan since the fifth grade, so we have a long history together. He was the class’s brightest student. who everyone would turn to for assistance with their assignments or study materials for exams.
The funny thing is, Dylan wasn’t the kind of child who would spend all day studying.
His intelligence came out as smooth and natural. He only needed to read or hear an idea once in order to internalize it.
In each topic, Dylan excelled in our class. In “Kumon,” an after-school program, he was a math student with exceptional skills who was four classes above our school’s grade level.
