💙Introduction
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. - Hellen Keller
When one enters into a new field, one is always overwhelmed for so many reasons because of a lack of knowledge, and ideas, missing out on the big picture, guidance, fear of missing out, etc. I was no exception. Coding wasn't a new field for me. As a matter of fact, I got introduced to it, for the first time, when I was in standard 11. Anything conceptual or analytical has always caught my attention. I, thoroughly, enjoyed exploring coding. Even though my areas of undergrad and post-graduation studies have been Electrical Engineering, not had a lot of opportunities for coding in any computer language but exposure to MATLAB provided me some opportunities for coding. Lately, I have developed a lot of interest in coding(problem-solving) in Python, C++, etc. I've been able to expose myself to a bigger world of learning through different communities and that has impacted my coding journey in a positive way. In this post, I'm going to share the role of communities like Hashnode and Twitter in my coding journey.
Little did I know, through bite-sized information on a micro-blogging website, I could gather a lot of valuable and useful advice to advance my career. I joined Twitter on 14th December 2021 when I stumbled upon #100DaysOfX Challenges to make myself more consistent and disciplined toward meeting the goals of my life. Under the rules of such challenges, one is supposed to post his progress on social media. I selected Twitter, as I wanted to be connected with the legends of tech fields professionally. I was baffled at the way many have compiled resources in the form of threads and shared them with everyone for the betterment of the community. So, Twitter became my technical journal where I started posting my progress on #100DayOfX challenges.
Tech Twitter keeps inspiring and motivating me to learn each day when I find the dedication of my peers, undisturbed. A lot can be achieved by doing small things consistently and for a long time. The power of compounding is absolutely amazing.
🧡Status of #100DaysOfX Challenges 2022
💫 #100DaysOfWriting: I could complete 2 rounds of this challenge and write 30 posts on Hashnode. I published 10 blog posts on my personal blog and completed Poem A Day Challenge for the month of May. I kept reviewing the books that I read on my Goodreads profile. I also participated in various writing competitions and regularly wrote emails of appreciation to Ankur Warikoo after reading his thought-provoking newsletters.
💫 #100DaysOfCode: I completed 2 rounds of it and got to know about many of these websites through Twitter. Ever since Hashnode integrated the Twitter profiles of all users, I have been following the Twitter handles of many of my favorite writers on Hashnode. Out of many, I follow Benjamin Bennette Alexander for content related to Python, Ankur Tyagi for tips to Software Developer, Swapna Kumar Panda for an awesome compilation of resources for learning various technologies.
💫 #100DaysOfReading: I could complete 3 rounds of this challenge. Even though I picked up around 25 books to read but could only finish 17 out of them. I had never read so many books in a year. Clearly, this challenge fulfilled my wish of devouring more books by pushing me to spend more time on them. Thanks to my husband who encouraged me to invest in iPad which aided my reading habit.
💫 Language Learning: I've been learning German on Duolingo App since April 2021. I am on a 551Days-strike(and continuing) which has been the longest one so far. I started learning Finnish 6 months ago. I won all monthly badges for the year 2022. I was on cloud nine when I won the First position in Diamond League.
🧡Giveaways from Twitter
Tech Twitter has given me so much to just summarize all of it in this post. Following are some of the giveaways that I received from Twitter. I find the Tech Twitter community extremely supportive and helpful when it comes to guiding or sharing resources. Apart from these books, I've received a lot of resources regarding programming, growing careers related to software development, content writing, etc. through DMs. I've committed and started to solve a problem a day in Python, inspired by 50DaysOfPython, and hopefully, will be able to accomplish it.
🧿CSS Flex and Grid by Shruti Balasa
🧿5 self-development Books by Hasan Toor
🧿Self-Development Books by Hasan Toor
🧿The Prime Guide by Ankur Tyagi
🧿Python Tips and Tricks and 50Days of Python by Benjamin Bennette Alexander
🧿Udemy Course on 50HTML,CSS and JS Projects by Dr.Sahand Ghavidel
💙Hashnode
I have always been looking for a platform to document my technical journey and luckily I stumbled upon Hashnode. I joined Hashnode during the last week of 2021 in order to write an article sharing my journey of completing the probation period of my first job abroad. Ever since I joined Hashnode, there has been no looking back. Never had I ever imagined that Technical Writing could be fun after being inspired by my fellow writers here. This is an article summarizing my technical journey of 2022 which got mentioned among note-worthy writers. When I was not writing on Hashnode, I actively read blog posts and commented. Writers should be appreciated for their work.
I've participated in various competitions on this platform and won some swags. In fact, my first swag from the technical world came from Hashnode. I've not mustered up the courage to participate in any Hackathon yet but I will try to contribute to open-source projects this year. I hope that I will learn enough skills to make me comfortable to participate in Hackathons.
💙 Final Note
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than grandest intention - Oscar Wilde
Communities are like catalysts aiding one to achieve success. In this digital world where we are surrounded by thousands of resources, it is important to select the right ones, stick to them every day, and not get caught in FOMO. FOMO is real, deceptive, and derogatory in personal growth. The idea is to be better than one's own yesterday.
I am indebted to so many writers, and developers who were kind enough to share useful resources, and experiences that act as guiding lights in the path of uncertainty. Their helping gesture might appear to be the smallest act but its impact on others is grand.
I would encourage people to share their everyday progress, success, failures, or stories on platforms like Twitter because they never know whom they're inspiring!
I would like to end this article with the following quote
Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people,can transform the world - Howard Zinn