I get it.

More than ever, the online world has been our only portal for connecting with others. It’s where we see our family and friends, where we unwind, and where most of us learn new things. But doomscrolling is a new term I discovered while I was actually doing the act—and it’s likely how you found this very article!

So, I get it, but this is a friendly reminder to get back to doing what you need to do. For me, and a lot of developers, that thing is studying and upskilling.

But hold on, WAIT! We have a PROBLEM!

Whether we want to admit it or not, the problem is that it’s hard to get off whichever social platform you’re fondest of, and convince yourself to go back to your homework.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will still be there after you clock in two or three hours of studying. The contrasting side is that two or three hours of doomscrolling will mostly burn up your time, maybe accidentally shoot down your confidence, or make you feel the dreaded “I’m not good enough” feeling. Social media is all about flash, and no failures. If you’ve been following me a while, you know that I’m honest in my truth here, so I’m going to be blunt and honest here.

As much as doomscrolling negatively effects us, we still enjoy ourselves, and we like being online. If we didn’t, then why would we consciously choose to doomscroll? It’s something I asked myself for a long time.

The reality is that enjoying a good meme is more enticing than burying yourself in tutorials and cramming in a language you never touched before.

Sometimes, being online is a way to escape reality. Othertimes, it’s sending a funny meme to a friend. You make each other laugh, and smile, and forget about the chaos going on in this world. So as interesting and fascinating as tech is, majority of the world can bond over a meme. As silly as that sounds, it’s true.

This leads to my next point: as great as they are, memes aren’t going to teach you how to ace that technical exam. Point blank.

On that note, your online friends aren’t responsible for teaching you that either, even if they do offer to help. They can’t study for you.

It all boils down to this — the only person who can make the decision to learn, is you. You are responsible for making the choice to study, and no one else. You can definitely ask for help, and I encourage that you do this with support, but ultimately you make the decision to study or not.

Sometimes that decision can be based on circumstance, so I can’t assume it’s something everyone can do RIGHT this second, nor is it what this article is implying you to do.

This article is helping you identify if you are also experiencing this issue, and sharing tools that can help you. When you’re done reading this, take time to think on what will work for you. Talk it out with a friend, family members, roommates, whoever! It’s ok if you don’t decide right away. Give yourself necessary time.

(Mini back story, scroll down for the TL;DR)

I am the kind of person who likes to meet new people, make genuine connections, and I am a crowd pleaser. Combined with ADHD and anxiety, I was online non-stop. I couldn’t say “no”, and I thought I was doing the right thing by reading and replying to every single comment.

Every.

Single.
Comment.

So as you can imagine, I spent a lot of time over-socializing and therefore developing a poor habit of being overly available, and mentally drained.

There were days where I would be on video calls from morning until night. My eyes were sometimes bloodshot from the amount of screen time I had. It was hardest during bootcamp when I was studying, and engaging with folks on Twitter. I would be listening to lectures while simultaneously responding to an overwhelming amount of notifications. As a newer developer, this was not good.

I should add: My passion for web development made studying enjoyable (and to be honest exciting). But again, let’s be real with each other. Passion or not, it is hard to stay motivated when you are inside your home, for MONTHS on end, merely seeking guidance and human connection. At the end of the day, we’re only human.

TL;DR: I was addicted to online networking.

So the big question: how do you get yourself into the studying mindset when the networking NEVER stops?

Sometimes the reliable “Just Do It” is thrown your way, but it’s not that easy for everyone to get up and “do it”. Everyone learns through means that work for them, and some folks require additional supports.

Now here is what I discovered worked for me, and what I can offer you today.

I knew this problem wasn’t going to magically fix itself, and I had to make a choice. Do I keep on doing my social media thing, or do I accept that I need to be more proactive in my studying? I chose the right (and frankly easy) decision : to focus on studying and progressing as a developer.

Through trial and error, I discovered new tools that I used daily to see what worked, and what didn’t work. Below are my favourite tools, and how I use them to stay on track everyday:

Tiimo App

Tiimo is a “visual daily planner”, otherwise known as a scheduling app. It is a paid service, but the yearly cost is reasonably priced ($25 CAD/year). It was created in mind of neurodivergent folks to help them stay on track. This means people like me with ADHD, or someone on the autism spectrum could really benefit from the simplicity of the app. You can do a 2 week trial to see how it works for you, and you can use the mobile or the desktop version. (I use the mobile version mostly)

How it works:

1) Create “activities” or use the pre-made Tiimo activities (ex: “Lunch”, “Stretching”, “Studying”, or “Brushing Teeth”)

2) Map out your day (or week)

3) If you feel like you’ll be repeating a day, make it a * “routine” in these steps: (*a routine could be a process that you want to repeat. Some examples: a whole day, a workout process, or a morning routine)

Desktop:

• Individually select the activities that are placed on your schedule. They should be highlighted grey.
• Select the “routines” tab on the right side bar.
• Click the button “Create new routine”
• Give a title to your routine (ex. My Study Routine, or My Daily Routine) and save it by clicking the “Create routine” button.

Mobile:

• Click on the blue “ + “ circular button. A slide up menu will appear.
• Select “Routines”
• On the top right corner, you will see a blue button titled “Create routine”. Click on the “Create routine” button.
• Next you will see your activities, and can select or deselect activities that you would like to make into a routine. When you are done, select the blue “Save routine” button located at the bottom right.
• A prompt will ask you to fill in a name for the routine. After you give it a title, select “Create routine” for the routine to save.

This is incredibly helpful if you’re trying to start, or maintain a routine. If you want to follow a certain routine, for example, a “Weekend Routine”, you can simply drag and drop your saved routine into your schedule! Just like that, it’s ready to go!

For me, I wanted to get more serious about working out, reading, and studying. This is called my “Daily Routine”. Some days, I wake up later than my daily, so I created a routine similar to my “Daily Routine” and titled it “Late Start Daily Routine”. It really helps set me up for success and allows wiggle room between activities.

Tiimo pros:

• Colourful icons: You can choose what icons and background colour it has. Makes me think about my schedule more, and I like that it’s customizable.
• Descriptive Activities: You can prep your activities by adding comments that are specific to what you need to do. Example: plan your meals in advance by writing down what you want to eat the day before, or write specific subjects or lessons that you’re studying. This process makes your day a lot more automatic. You’ll have room to do so much more with all the time you save.
• Current activity progress bar: On the mobile version I can see how far along I am for my “current activity”.
• More on activity progress bars: If you finish an activity early, you can “end early” and either start the next activity. You can also choose to give yourself some extra time to do anything you want in-between.
• The routines: the routines have been AMAZING! I have a daily routine, a weekend routine and I even set up a routine called a “burnout” routine. Burnout days are inevitable, so if I have a bad mental health day and need to recover, I am following some sort of structure to my day to make sure I am taking care of myself, and recovering. That way, I’m supporting myself instead of diving into unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Tiimo cons:

• The notifications don’t always go through: This is problematic because as someone with ADHD, I hyper focus on my tasks and sometimes I forget to do something that was planned out (and by the time I realize it’s too late). This unfortunately has happened often, and for a paid service, I would expect this to work. Thankfully, I am thinking about my schedule regularly and find that it works for me! I also have a long term habit of setting up important Google calendar events so I will be notified no matter what. (Always have a backup plan)

Focus To-Do App

Focus To-Do is an app that uses the Pomodoro technique. I downloaded the app to my desktop, and it has worked flawlessly. When I want to focus, I put away my phone, I start the timer (25 minutes), and begin to study. I do not check my phone at all during this time. At 25 minutes, the app will notify me of my 5 minute break. I take this break time seriously because in my experience it is vital to the Pomodoro technique. In that time, I avoid social media as much as I can. Instead of doomscrolling, I stretch, grab some water, maybe a healthy snack, read a book, play a quick game (offline). After the second notification goes off, this means my break has ended and it is time to study again. I prioritize staying hydrated, focused, and the result is a strong study session.

With the help of this tool, it’s truly that simple.

These last tips are short but sweet:

Some of it is obvious, but actually applying it makes a world of difference.

• Accountability Buddy: Get an accountability buddy! Set up goals with them, meet weekly at the same time, and share what you have learned during that time. This can be someone you met online who you trust and have a relationship with, or if you come from a bootcamp or school environment, reach out to your classmate and see if they’re interested.
• Put your phone on DO NOT DISTURB mode, and keep that thing away from you! I know it’s hard, but if your phone is in a spot that you can’t reach with the notifications off, it’s much easier to get your work done.
• Remove the most TEMPTING apps off your phone. For me, that’s Twitter. I removed the app from my home page, and every time I have the itch to check, I open up the wrong app and remind myself to put down the phone and do something else. Whether that's studying, or reading a book, just get away from your phone at that point.
• Remind yourself that you are doing yourself no good by doomscrolling and comparing yourself to others all day. People will share their successes, their wins, their feats. Most people can be happy for someone while equally feeling like they haven’t done enough, which of course can affect your mental health. Try having a STICKY NOTE on your laptop that reminds you to get back to studying, or honouring breaks that you promised yourself. Once those intrusive thoughts break into your head, take a step away from the social media.
• Close all social media desktop tabs, AND turn off your slack / discord notifications. IT. CAN. WAIT. And if someone can’t respect that, you don’t need that kind of energy in your life! The betterment of your mental health and education is so important!
• Stay within your window for studying. Sure, you could go for an extra five hours, but should you? For general studying, no. You want to start small, and build gradually. It’s all about the small steps that help you reach your goals. If you said you’re going to aim for 2 hours of studying per day, let it be that. You’ll have a better understanding of what you’re learning, even if the pace is slower.

That is pretty much it from me! I hope my story and tips help get you away from social media, specifically doomscrolling and get back on track to what is important. This isn’t to say STAY AWAY FROM SOCIAL MEDIA FOREVER. Networking is still important, but EVERYTHING in moderation.

Thank you!

This is the part where I say find me on social media, but, don’t expect me to be on as much as I used to be. At least, that is what I’m working towards. ☺

If you do want to find me: @rothecoder on everything

Alright y’all, this is an emotional one.

This picture was taken three years ago today. Facebook reminded me of the journey that nearly made me give up on doing any more schooling. The journey that made me believe I was destined for a lifetime of unfulfilling roles and being treated like crap by employers, employees, and customers. I couldn’t pass anything no matter how hard I tried, so this is my fault, and it’s what I deserve…. right?

So let’s rewind. Three years ago I started a university journey that ended with me feeling crushed, hopeless, and incapable of completing an education.

Today, I am a recently hired social media marketer at a startup, and a part of a thriving Twitter community. I help inspire and motivate people! Some days I wake up and think “This isn’t really MY life, is it?!?? The person who failed school so many times?? The person who couldn’t grasp things at the same rate as everyone else???”, but it is, and I’m thankful for this new life every single day. These people I’m communicating with every day were in a position that I was once in, or, they are still in that position. I try to help people however I can. We connect through tech, mental health, fitness, or just straight-up friendship.

The purpose of this story is that getting from point A to point B is not linear. Even for those people who ‘got it all’, they did NOT have a linear experience for their idea of success. At a distance, those ‘success stories’ seem like fluffed up motivational BS speak, until you are the one sharing your success story.

Success, whatever that may be to you, IS possible. Even when it doesn’t FEEL possible. If you think for a SECOND the reason why I gained my version of success is because, “I’m the type of person that was chock-full of passion”, you’re absolutely wrong. Soooo WRONG!

I was passionless for years, but I didn’t really understand it. I would come home every day from jobs that didn’t give me quite enough. I would lay in bed and watch Netflix from the moment I could until I was waking up at 3:00 AM with all the lights on, Netflix asking me “Are You Still There?” and then quickly going back to sleep. I didn’t know what I wanted to do... I was truly passionless.

I didn’t care to study anything in my spare time. I didn’t research how to draw better, or how to be more creative (some of my current passions). I exercised a lot (like, a LOTTTT), but even then, I would get bored of it. When I was in college and university, I hated studying, because I didn’t CARE about what I was studying. I did it because I felt like I had to. I was in general programs studying classes that I couldn’t care less about. The pressure from society was “get an education, otherwise you’re not good enough”.

So, when I tell you that I finally found my passion, it’s the solid truth. It’s not a fluffed up “you can do it” story for likes, retweets, or attention. I discovered the potential that came from coding. It felt like that scene in the Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes. Point blank, I was finally HAPPY. I didn’t feel lost, I felt excited! This was a huge feat because I never thought the day would come.

So don’t stop because you think you can’t do it, or because you stopped university or college 3 separate times, or because society put you in a box of being “that person with mental health issues so they probably can’t do it”. You are capable. Your passion is out there! You just have to continuously work on understanding yourself, and asking yourself what it is that you want until you find it. You have to ask yourself what do I NEED to succeed? You HAVE to.

For me, it took 10 years of trial and error. Discovering my mental health. Taking meds. Losing friends. Gaining friends. Trying new things that scared me. Taking a risk. Spending lots of money. Not having enough money. Making a lot of money and being comfortable in my role. Failing, failing, failing, until finally, I found my passion. I didn’t care what it took, I wanted to do it. I told myself in November of 2019, by the time I turn 27, I will be a developer with a job.

It is September 2020. I am 27 years old, a web developer, with a job, and even better, a community of friends.

I hope this gives you inspiration in any which way, but I thought I should share my honest and raw truth.

Thank you,

Ro

Now, I know code might seem a little bit scary at first, but truly, it is NOT as
bad as you think! I personally never thought I could do it, but here I am! A Front-End Web Developer excited and ready for work! If I can do it, YOU can do it! Cliche, yes, but it’s true! If you think I had it easy breezy, check out my long winded journey into web development here. Also, I have ADHD and anxiety, so seriously, this was NOT easy for me. If you want to learn how I overcame my mental health in the tech industry, check it out here.

So, to start, I’m proud of you for taking that first step to learning something NEW! I’m going to share some resources I wish I had known about from the beginning. There are a ton of resources to add, so feel free to comment any gems you would like to share. For now, here are a few links I think everyone should start with (in no particular order)!

1. FreeCodeCamp
   Free code camp pretty much says it all in their domain name. They are a free (yes FREE) website that provides users with the experience to learn any language in the comforts of their own home. Users will start by selecting which language they are interested in, and then practice their skills with each lesson through a series of exercises. The reason why I love this website is because literally anyone can do this. It does not exclude anyone who is financially struggling. It provides you with thorough explanations, and hands on practice. It’s a well rounded website that everyone interested in code should get started with

2. FlexBox Zombies
Learning should be fun, and what better way to learn than through VIDEO GAMES? I know, I know, you’ve heard of all these “super cool and fun ‘learning’ video games”, but I PROMISE, this was a GAME changer (no pun intended)(ok, pun intended). When you first enter the confusing world of FlexBox, FlexBox ZOMBIES make you forget the scariness of it all**. I remember my first FlexBox lesson at Juno College, thinking, “WAIT! What is going ON?!?!”. A mentor shared FlexBox Zombies with us, and I had a very hard time explaining to my family and friends that I was NOT just sitting at home playing a video game. I was actually learning something! Oh, and by the way, it’s FREE! This game teaches you the basics, the hard parts, all wrapped in a very creative story line. I definitely recommend this game!
**unless you’re scared of zombies, then, sorry pal! I can’t help ya there!

3. Udemy Courses:
Although Udemy courses aren’t free, keep your eyes peeled for a deal! One of the courses below was listed at $169.99 (WOWOWOW!!!),but the next day it dropped down to $19.99 (phewwww). One of my biggest regrets was not sinking into JavaScript a little bit more before bootcamp. If you learn the fundamentals, and get an idea of what to expect from JavaScript, it will help keep you a few steps ahead of the game when learning JavaScript. (If you are still like “woah, wait, what the heck is HTML5 and CSS3?!?!”, then I STRONGLY recommend understanding that before jumping straight into JavaScript.) If you’re ready, check out the courses below!

• The Modern JavaScript Bootcamp Course
  The great thing about this course is you have a wonderful, funny instructor (Colt Steele) with tons of up to date JS lessons. You learn the fundamentals, such as what is a variable? What is a string?? What is an array??? You get the point. As you go through the course, you learn how to build your own projects and delve into more advanced JS concepts.
• JavaScript — Understanding The Weird Parts (Recommended to me by Sui Young, Jonathan Wong, and Chao Zhao)
  This is the course I’ve heard only good about. When I asked mentors for help on how to improve my JS skills, THIS is the course they direct me to. I only recently purchased the course and haven’t had the chance to start, but the purpose of The Weird Parts is to help understand JS a little bit more. For devs to dive deeper into JS and make sense of the things that simply don’t make sense (because truly, none of this learning experience is linear, and no, you’re not expected to know everything). The advanced things from the previous course will be further explored and explained through this one.

Below are two more resources I haven’t tried yet, but have heard great things from my bootcamp cohortmates (woohoo cohort calc 30 – 3 aka cohort 27)!

4. Edabit
Recommended by Hartej Lehal

5. HTMLDOM
Recommended by Oksana Samokhvalova

BONUS TIP:

MY NUMBER ONE RESOURCE I WISH I HAD IS….
My TWITTER ACCOUNT! I wish I started a Twitter account so much sooner! Why?? Because there is a HUGE Tech Twitter Community all willing to help each other learn and grow! Start by making a twitter account, make it geared towards web development only! Connect to other devs, make new friends, and definitely learn a thing or two from the many tips you’ll learn while scrolling through your TL. If you hit a bump in the road during your lessons, send out an SOS on Twitter! Someone will definitely help you out!

Well, that’s it from me!

I hope these resources will help you with your first few steps into coding! Feel free to contact me at anytime if you have questions, or would like to add on to this list! Thanks pals!

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and anxiety is the body’s response to stress. In some cases, like mine, they coexist. It’s not always easy living with the two, but I make it work.

I was recently shuffling through a pile of documents at my home, and I came across a letter from a psychologist that was dated back to the year 2000. At the time the document was created, I would have been 7 years old, and after a few seconds of reading, my heart sank.

The letter was a psych evaluation. It began by saying I was a “slow learner”, how there were concerns circulating my future, how my brother, who is on the autism spectrum (ASD), is a ‘burden to the family’, so it will be hard for my parents to monitor my educational success while trying to monitor my brothers.

Statements like the above are the first thing most people think of when you hear anything about mental health, or cognitive disabilities. People believe “oh yeah, they have anxiety, they will probably be ‘freaking out’ every 10 seconds”, or, “this person has ADHD, they will never be able to focus and be a good employee”, or, “this person has ASD, they must be ‘a burden’ ”. Why would this be the first thing you think of? To put it simply, it’s because we were raised to view mental health, and cognitive disabilities in this light. People who have ADHD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, autism, and so on, will not be successful. This is where I tell you, this is not true.

Firstly, my brother is not a burden. In fact, he is one of the kindest, most well versed people I have ever known. He has a job at the bank, a job he landed because of how fantastic his communication skills are. He is a talented musician, self taught. He is so many things above what this 20 year old documentation assumed he would be. So, someone with autism, much like someone with ADHD, are CAPABLE people of achieving success. This is something that is not paraded around in society. Maybe more so now, but for a long time, everything was very “hush hush”.

Even though I was raised my whole life being told by my parents that they believe in me, and that I can do anything if I put my mind to it, I still felt that looming judgment from society. On top of my parents’ support, my elementary teachers were also incredibly supportive. Regardless of all these support systems, I always felt ashamed when I was pulled out of class to get extra help. This stigmatization around asking for help, getting a tutor, or learning in a way that works for you is something I wish was shut down years ago.

For someone like me, with ADHD and anxiety, it took me awhile before I realized I needed to do something about my mental health. It began to spiral out of control, and I could not see a way into success. I didn’t have enough resources to success stories, and so I believed I was destined for a certain fate of working a job I do not like, with low pay, because I was not good enough, and that “it was what someone like me deserved”. I felt this way until I was pushed into the idea of taking medication.

There is a huge problem with people who do not have mental health that shame someone with mental health for trying to better their life. Whether people realize it or not, we (people who take medications) get shamed and or judged subconsciously, and often because there is a misconception that “medication is nothing but bad”. Of course, there are ups and downs to everything, medication included, but I was at a point where I had to weigh out my options.

I had already tried consistently working out and eating clean, I had cut out caffeine. Year by year, my options were narrowing, and less things were working. So, the final year before I started meds, my choices were, “continue to live my life this way, with constant debilitating panic attacks”, or “try medication and see what it can do for you!”. At this point in my life, I was depleted of any energy I had and I needed to change it.

The person I was from the beginning of taking medication and now are two different people. The personality of the person I was before is still here, except now I can achieve my goals. I am glad I pushed past the people who “do not believe” in medication, because that’s how I was able to focus and hone in on what I would love to do with my life. I could finally see clearly, I could finally think without all the pollution of thoughts in my head. That’s how I ended up rediscovering web development, and pursuing it.

Now, I can proudly say, I am a web developer, and I am a person living with ADHD and anxiety. I am entering week 8 of coding bootcamp, and I will begin job hunting very soon. My brother is a bank teller and musician, and he is an adult living with autism. He worked very hard to get to where he needed to be, and he continues to make me proud.

We both did the “impossible” to make our lives better. I’m here to tell you, these strides to bettering your future is very much possible. We did that through means that worked for us. The point is, if you look past the stigma, look past the “shame”, and realize that sometimes, that little pill is all you need to get you to your future, then maybe if you’re someone who needs to hear this, it could be the start of your success story.

The “slow learner” is now on their way to succeeding in the world of tech. The “burden” is a talented, smart human being bettering their life everyday. Don’t let people, even documents tell you how your future will be. Take that document and rewrite your future the way you see fit. Never settle for less, and know you are deserving of the best life.

Edited by: Luc Chiasson

Hello!

My name is Rojhan Paydar, but you can call me Ro! I am a Junior Front End Web Developer studying at Juno College, in Toronto, Canada. A little about my background — I love animals, drawing, working out, and connecting with other people! To dive further into my web development journey, click here.

In this post however, I will be introducing you to eight wonderful people to learn about their stories, and showcase projects that they are particularly proud of. I feel very fortunate for having the opportunity to connect with all of them, and I’m happy to share the information they have provided.

I hope that this will act as motivation for others to join the wonderful web development community, and perhaps inspire some projects of your own. If you are new to web development, you are in the right place. I promise you, the coding community is the friendliest, most welcoming bunch you will ever meet!

“Overall, I am so grateful for the team and community that Juno provided. It was truly a dream come true.”

— Kay Evans-Stocks, Juno Alumni Cohort 25

1. Kay Evans-Stocks (she/her) — Front End Developer / Graphic Designer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Front End Web Developer, Full Stack Developer, Graphic Designer

Introducing Kay Evans-Stocks!

She is a recent graduate of Juno College, and currently works as a front-end developer for Dotfusion in Toronto. Prior to web development, Kay studied graphic design where she would go on to receive an undergraduate degree. Outside of her career however, Kay has a love for camping, bubble tea, and listening to music from the 70s and 80s.

Diversity and inclusivity are very important to Kay; she inhabits the growth mindset. Always seeking to explore and expand her knowledge, Kay’s adventurous personality has been an asset to her success in web development.

To hear more about Kay and her works, continue reading below:

“I wrote my first line of code in 2016 in a Web Design class in my undergraduate degree. Quite honestly, I was so lost and had no idea what the heck I was doing. Learning HTML and CSS was so new and I was just copying my teacher, trying to keep up. As weeks went on though, I started to fall in love with it. I felt a drive and a passion I had never felt before. It was so cool how you would write a line of what at that time felt like gibberish, and see some magical things come to life. It also felt like the perfect harmony between technical and creative. I liked how there was answers and structure but that the web could become a new kind of canvas I could design with.

There was so much to learn and I felt a fire ignite with me. That summer I decided to take a course with Ladies Learning Code as I was ready to learn more. I took the Digital Skills program, a 7 week part-time class, which taught HTML and CSS fundamentals. My favourite part of that class was I felt I was learning the most up to date information and industry standard practices. Also, my instructors were AMAZING and so COOL. They had so much knowledge and really explained things well. I felt so comfortable and so accepted.

I learned they were alumni of this place called HackerYou (now Juno). After research of Juno and their immersive Bootcamp, it became my new dream. I knew this is what I wanted to do after my undergraduate program. Their commitment to diversity and inclusion was so rare and inspiring; I put it on my vision board and I was committed.

In the summer of 2019, after I graduated my undergraduate degree, I did some graphic and web freelancing. Another web project I did in the summer was more design related.

I began my #junojourney in September of 2019 in their Accelerated Web Development course. This course was amazing, and I felt an overwhelming feeling of community and support from the entire Juno staff. Everyone was free to be themselves. I was also blown away by their ability to explain these concepts in such an in depth and concise way. I had experience in the more traditional school structure but I came out of the first 3 days with more knowledge and understanding, than 3 months in a course. I couldn’t wait to continue with Juno.

After the Web Dev, I applied to Juno’s Bootcamp and (spoiler alert) I GOT IN. I was accepted into the January 2020 bootcamp, which allowed me to take the accelerated Javascript course before hand. This wasn’t mandatory, but due to my fears about Javascript, I thought it would be a good idea. I am so thankful I did. Javascript was hard for me, and while I did love the course and I learned so much more than I thought I would be able to understand, I ended up having a breakdown mid way through it. I thought I wasn’t getting it and it freaked me out so much that I broke down. It was a rough time. But it resulted in me creating one of my favourite projects to date, the Moon Phase App

This was the final project in the Javascript course, and I actually did four iterations of it adding different features and making it as a good as it could be. I was so motivated to learn and understand Javascript, and I am proud of what it resulted in.

Bootcamp shortly started after the end of the Javascript course. I was so excited I couldn’t contain it. Our cohort (woo cohort 25!!!) got extremely close very fast. Bootcamp was hard, but I felt the projects were spaced out well and I thoroughly enjoyed week after week, practising my skills and expanding my knowledge.

One of my favourite projects I created was the Design a Study Space one I completed for Project 3, the Javascript/jQuery project

This project was inspired by IKEA’s app to build your own room. I wanted to create an interactive app that allowed users to build their own study space. I challenged myself to create complicated logic and to design each asset! It was harder than I initially thought it would be, but it was so fun to build.

After Javascript, we entered into learning about React. React and I didn’t get a long at first. It was complicated, and I was still trying to wrap my head around Javascript. Through time and practice, I actually started to thoroughly enjoy it (I might even say I love it now?). Two of my other favourite projects came out of that. The first was the individual React project where I finally got to build an e-commerce styled application

It was a goal of mine going into Bootcamp, or coding as a career, to build an e-commerce type of website from scratch. It turned out pretty cool and there are so many other features I hope to build on it soon. I also loved the final project we worked on: a group client style assignment where we are tasked with a application pitch and we are to make it come to life. My group was to build an app called Quick Flick Picker where people can create custom lists of movies to watch, and could be recommended a movie to watch based on those lists

It was a large project, and it was very very challenging. But through working on it with the team, I learned so much about how to approach problems differently.

Overall, I am so grateful for the team and community that Juno provided. It was truly a dream come true. The job hunt was hard, but I am excited to say I will be starting my new career at Dotfusion as a Junior Web Designer!!! I am so thankful I was able to find a place where not only my values align, but I am able to explore both in the development sphere and with design.”

See more of Kay on Twitter here.

Outcome of skills — Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites, Graphic Design

2. Danny Thompson (he/him) —Software Engineer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Motivational Speaker, Software Developer, Group Organizer

Contacting Danny was a little bit intimidating for me. Not because he came off as scary, or unapproachable, but because he has a very large following on Twitter. I thought there was no way I could reach him. He seemed like someone far too busy for something like this!

However, it was with the help of Raf Rasenberg (another developer included on this list), that I was able to connect with Danny. Funny enough, Danny’s first message to me was, “You could have just messaged me! How can I help you?”, which just goes to show how friendly he really is.

Danny is a software engineer and motivational speaker. His twitter page is a great display of his eagerness to help inspire developers in all walks of life. He would wake at 2:30 AM daily just to study before frying chicken at a gas station. While at work, he would be thinking of coding all day long, leaving debugging notes for himself to try once he got home. All the hard work and dedication would eventually pay off of course, and he is a perfect role model for people looking to transition into the industry.

Read what he has to say below:

“The journey was very difficult. You are learning a new way to talk and think. You have to adapt a new way to approach problems. Not only are you conquering new problems, you have to conquer new fears. “You are nothing, you came from nothing, you work in a gas station and you will die in this gas station, they don’t want a professional chicken fryer, they want a programmer! You will never make it! Oh you are going on a programming interview and you smell like the chicken you cook, they see right through what you are trying to do! GO BACK TO WHERE YOU BELONG!” My fears, My doubts, My obstacles enjoyed keeping me down but I made it. — Danny Thompson, Software Engineer.

As for projects. I run a community of developers called GDG Memphis. I provide meetups, resources, learning opportunities and networking opportunities for developers. I have also helped 44 people land their first jobs in tech last year and I am focused on changing my city for the better.

We have several low income areas in my town that lack resources. the average household income is 18k a year. If I can take one person from that area, give them resources and help them land their first job in tech making, lets say, 60k a year. They are now generating the income of 3.5 households. If I can get 20 people from the same area, I just changed the neighbourhood. Now the schools get more resources, because people are in a new tax bracket. Now because of a parent getting a better job, the children now have more resources. Now they have a more stable home. The ripple that tech can create is HUGE. But it doesn’t stop at tech. We can use this model for other industries, but we need to put resources in the hands of those that lack them. If they get them, we will produce a group of people that can make the biggest positive impact we have ever seen. This is my way to close the income gap, this is my way to create the change I want to see.”

See more of Danny on Twitter here.
or check out his podcast: “Commit Your Code!”

To find Danny’s journey to web development, click here

Outcome of skills — Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites, Found Developer Meet Ups, Public Speaking

3. Heather Payne (she/her) — Juno College Founder and CEO

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — CEO, Founder, Code Career Services Expert, Manager, Code Instructor, Business Owner

When I asked Heather Payne for her web developer story, I was surprised to hear her say she “doesn’t do too much web development” right now. That didn’t stop me from wanting to ask her questions, in fact, it intrigued me further! Her story is a brilliant example of how you can take on a different role in the web development community, but still be incredibly involved and successful.

With some HTML and CSS knowledge, Heather became the founder of Ladies Learning Code, and the CEO and founder of Juno College (formerly HackerYou). She has helped thousands of people start their journey, including myself! Here is her story:

“I was part of a sorority in university, and one year I got tasked as the “Webmaster”. I had no previous experience building websites, but I figured it out as I went and launched a brand new site for my sorority after a few months of work.

Fast forward a couple years, to 2009: I spent my last semester of university on exchange in Hong Kong. It was my first time being abroad, and I loved it. I decided to find an excuse to stay away from Canada a bit longer, and ended up being accepted to a Masters program at a university on the Chinese mainland (under a full scholarship!). Turns out that what I was studying, International Relations, didn’t interest me much, but I somehow remembered the fun I had coding that sorority website. I started skipping class and spending all my time coding.

By 2010, I had moved back to Canada. I got a job, but still spent a lot of my time coding. After about a year, in 2011, I decided that learning to code on your own is too hard, and there should be a group in Toronto for women who want to learn to code. Ladies Learning Code was born!

A few months later, in early 2012, I had the idea for Juno. We launched in June of 2012 and ran our first sold out Web Development course in the fall. It was led by Wes Bos! From there, the rest is history.

My strength through all this was that I represented Juno’s customers — I didn’t know how to code, and I knew what learning to code should feel like, I knew what the classroom should feel like. I was very involved early on in designing the experience, though others wrote the actual curriculum.

Soon, I became the job search expert, working with all graduates of our Bootcamp on their job searches. That was fun for a long time, but with our growth, last year we hired someone to lead our Career Services team. Now, I still work closely with them, but I also run our Marketing team, keep myself very business as CEO, and I also spend a lot of time thinking about Juno’s future and how we can achieve our impact goals, such as by launching new programs. It feels like a job that only I could do, which is maybe why I love it so much!”

See more of Heather on Twitter here

If you’re interested in courses, check out Juno College and Ladies Learning Code websites!

Outcome of skills — Build Websites, Create a Business, Manage Others

4. Raf Rasenberg (he/him) — Freelance Web Developer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Free Lance Web Developer, Full Stack Developer

Raf Resenberg is yet another fellow web developer I came into contact with via Twitter. Raf utilizes his social media as a platform to ask important tech questions, generate discussion, and develop a community for his peers.

He also exhibits to his followers that web developers can have more than one passion. To Raf, a healthy diet and exercise are just as important as coding; he often shares how he manages a work-life balance with his followers.

Raf’s story involves travelling from country to country, working with a start-up company, and learning to change environments in order to succeed. To continue learning about Raf’s journey into freelance web development, read below:

“Well that’s a pretty funny story actually. Three years ago I moved from The Netherlands to Hungary for university. My program wasn’t even related to programming by the way, but it was a business study.

Moving from a wealthy West-European country comes with some downsides as well. I was looking for a part-time job during university to earn some extra side cash, but the pay is very low in Hungary. In comparison: a student job in the Netherlands made me around €12 per hour. Whereas in Hungary it’s €4..

(In Canadian dollars, that’s the difference of $20.30 CAD to $6.80 CAD!)

So, finding a student job wasn’t much of an option, but then I came up with an idea. What if I use this salary difference to my advantage? I looked for companies in The Netherlands that want to outsource their software development to the east. Since I knew the tech community here in Hungary was pretty solid, and the pay rates from Hungary to Netherlands would be an advantage (in terms of offering my business to those in the Netherlands with pay rates from Hungary), I thought to take this opportunity and learn the basics of code.

So, I started learning Python and fell absolutely in love with programming. The start-up idea I originally had never happened. It did however end up with me learning to program, and eventually start freelancing for Dutch companies. Tech made this happen! Developing is something you can do from anywhere in the world. This way I could enjoy a normal salary in Hungary, while enjoying the lower cost of living.

Yes sure, I started initially with simple websites made in WordPress. I don’t really call this programming though. It was mostly me installing pre made themes, and then editing them with some CSS and JavaScript. Even though I felt this way, clients were happy with it, and I was happy to start generating an income.

I did this for a couple of months, but I wasn’t really enjoying it. For me, I love to write out code, and not fill out websites with a page builder. The nice thing about this was the job opportunities it lead me to. I was able to get referrals from customers who were satisfied. It really gave me some credibility!

After 8 months I got my first real project where I had to write code. It was for a start-up, an online marketing platform where aspiring pro soccer players could sign up and create a profile to improve visibility. I made it with Django, PostgresSQL, Sass and Vanilla JS. This start up doesn’t exist anymore, but that’s okay! I enjoyed every bit of it during development. It was my first 4 digit project, and I was extremely happy with it.

After that project the ball started rolling. I have made several full-stack apps and enterprise-level websites since then. The most recent delivery is a platform for freelance drivers and couriers. The users can sign up there, and companies can pick them out to do jobs for them. One of my most recent milestones that I have achieved is landing a 5 digit project! I am so extremely stoked for that! It’s a very large project which is going to take several months for me where I also probably have to hire some extra people to help out.”

See more of Raf on Twitter here

Outcome of skills — Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites

5. Celeste Ellerby (she/her/they/them) — Animator / Developer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Front End Web Developer, Full Stack Developer, Animator

Celeste Ellerby is a junior full-stack developer with a fun twist… she’s an animator!

I found this to be fascinating, primarily because of how two fields can intertwine to create something beautiful. Celeste’s work really showcases how to utilize an outside skillset to your advantage when working as a web developer.

I highly recommend you visit her Twitter page to view her works. I find it to be very inspiring, and displays how you too can push the envelope for what’s possible as a developer.

Here is her story from animator to coder:

“After high school, I had decent grades across the board and I had no idea what I wanted to do at all. I ended up going to Sheridan for Art Fundamentals, and from there went to Cambrian College in Sudbury for Animation. I studied hand drawn traditional animation, 2d digital animation, character design, storyboarding and 3d animation. Unfortunately, the 5 week teachers’ strike hit the year I was supposed to graduate, which heavily impacted the quality of our portfolios.

Despite that, since I had an internship at a studio in Sudbury between year 2 and 3, I managed to land a dream job as a freelance storyboard artist for Yowza Animation where I planned out pre-school musical numbers. I chose to get into coding because although I adored being paid to do art for a living, I found myself going into work and turning my brain off.

I love the engaging problem solving of web development, as well as the collaborative aspect that includes sharing knowledge with like-minded, equally excited classmates and coworkers.”

You can see more of Celeste and her projects on her website

Find Celeste on Twitter here

Additional animation work by Celeste can be found here

Outcome of skills — Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites, Create Animation

6. Alex Davis (he/him) — Designer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — UX/UI Designer, Product Designer, Front End Web Developer

Next, we have Alex Davis.

Alex is also someone from the Juno Community, but I have had the pleasure of knowing him for many years prior. It was a pleasant surprise that I was reconnected with him through the web developer community on Twitter.

I was delighted to see that he had attended Juno’s Intro To Web Development Program, which made me eager to pick his brain. Interestingly enough however, Alex told me he took a different route to becoming a developer. Instead, becoming a designer through his “frustrating web experiences”.

Below is his story:

“One of the first jobs I ever got was building animated web assets for a friend of mine (she was doing a big web overhaul project). Super focused gig, but gave me tons of insight into what it takes to build, test, and launch a web project in a tight timeline.

I ended up enjoying the design side so much that I shuffled into UX/UI and eventually product design — going from insurance to medical technology, and then from ISP’s to being the lead designer at an education startup.

While I don’t dev quite as much anymore I find that understanding the foundations of how the web works is critical to my work. It helps me communicate more effectively with engineers and deliver designs that are more feasible and consistent — always take your web stack into consideration!

Web development always interested me because I was always someone that liked building things. But unlike something like Lego or Warhammer or any other model kit, the web was infinitely scalable and only required a computer (and an internet connection). You could just keep building and building.

Design was a reaction to seeing and interacting with tons of frustrating web experiences (although I also design systems and non-digital experiences now too).”

See more of Alex on Twitter here

Outcome of skills —Design Apps, Design Games, Design Websites

7. Audra Turuta (she/her) — Front End Web Developer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Front End Web Developer, Teacher, Web Developer Instructor

Meet Audra!

She loves video games, and is a member of the Toronto Roller Derby team, Chicks Ahoy!

Like many of the people featured in this blog post, Audra is also a Juno alumni. Roller derby is actually how she came across the school, since one of the team’s coaches had previously attended Juno.

Speaking with Audra has been a very refreshing conversation for my own journey. We talked about working out, education, and of course roller derby. Like the other Juno alumni, Audra has been incredibly supportive, and a very relatable human being who I have had the pleasure of speaking to online.

Here is her journey, as well as one project she is proud of:

“My educational background is in education (I have a teaching degree), so I’ve been looking into Educational Technology jobs. I also love video games and I think it’d be neat to combine the two. Right now I tutor, but I also have a freelance job for a friend. She makes reusable products out of recycled fabric, and offers mending for whatever (pants, shirts, backpacks, etc. She’s a genius). Her sewing machine is solar powered, and before the pandemic she would bike to the farmer’s markets she was working to further reduce her impact. Her website is coming soon, and I even chose to go with a hosting service that buys energy credits to offset it’s energy consumption. One of my favourite projects is the partner JavaScript one from bootcamp. My partner on this project was Matthew Hernandez, another cohort 25 alumni!

Together, Matthew and I created a pokebattle using gifs and rock-paper-scissors logic!”

As mentioned earlier, Audra plays a sport called Roller Derby with Toronto Roller Derby on Chicks Ahoy. Audra quotes, “There are actually a lot of Juno alumni from the roller derby community who helped me out through my coding journey, so roller derby changed my life in a couple ways”. Truly an uplifting story of how one community can lead you to another.

See more of Audra on Twitter here

Outcome of skills —Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites, Teacher, Code Instructor

8. Mike Gambetta (he/him) — Web Developer

Job Titles Inspired By This Journey — Front End Web Developer, Full Stack Developer, Software Developer

Last, but certainly not least, we have Mike Gambetta!

Mike started off his coding journey with a fascination on how apps and mobile phones functioned. He eventually evolved that fascination into his career as he became a web developer. It was through perseverance and determination that he made the transition, traits that still hold true today. Because of this, he continues to grow and be a source of inspiration for how to navigate into the field.

Here is Mike’s amazing journey:

“I started out in college going for software development, and learning to code with languages like Python and C, but we weren’t really learning how to make websites. For me, I wanted to see my code come to life, and not just tell me whether I was writing a Fibonacci algorithm correctly. I had one class in college that briefly covered the basics of web development. And I got an insight of how quickly you could see results. By results I mean an interface, colors, interaction, etc. So I took it upon myself to learn web development in my free time. I had to work and go to school so it took me longer to learn, but eventually I started to get the hang of everything.

My job was just data entry, and eventually I got to work from home, which allowed me to at least study and multitask while I worked. I would watch a lot of Brad Traversy tutorials, and dive deep into W3 schools tutorials. At this point, I really only knew HTML, CSS, and some JS. Then I knew I had to start deploying websites now that I knew I could build one, so after purchasing the wrong type of hosting account twice, I finally got a shared hosting account with cPanel, through GoDaddy and learned how to buy and register domains. I had no portfolio at this time. Just practice projects.

I still had over a year left of college, and this part time data entry job wasn’t going to pay the bills, so I reached out to friends on Facebook and local friends looking for people who needed a website done.

Getting clients is another ball game. My first client was a nightmare, but a learning lesson. A manager from a local restaurant paid me monthly to update their website, but I had no control over the code and had a basic web builder to play with. Moving forward, in May of 2019 I got my first real client. A local videographer. I still work with him today, his website is http://RTBvisuals.com. At the time, I also launched my first web “application” which was just a nutritional informational website about supplements to take. At this point I knew I had some experience and it was time to apply for more developer jobs.

At the end of June 2019, I received a phone call for an interview for a website developer position for a property management company. I still had over a semester of college to go, (fortunately it was online) and I was offered the full time position as a web developer. It’s mostly front end work, I just build update websites for condominiums and deed restricted / home owner associations. I was nervous to get started since I still felt like a beginner, but everything seemed to work out perfect.

The experience took off after that, I now have every day hands on work with Bootstrap 3 and 4 , jQuery, PHP, as well as HTML,CSS, and JavaScript. Even though I felt like a beginner, I was able to shock a lot of people and make an impact. Just 2 months ago I was offered a senior position at a tech company nearby, and my current job wanted to compete with their salary, so I was able to keep my job and get a nice raise. I really don’t want this story to sound like a huge pat on the back , I just want to be an example for people to realize that their potential is a lot larger than they think. And to never let imposter syndrome bring you down, never let your amount of experience bring you down, and to never underestimate the impact you’ll make if you really have a passion for something.”

See more of Mike on Twitter here

Outcome of skills — Create Apps, Create Games, Create Websites, Free Lance

There you have it! Eight incredibly inspiring stories to help kick start your coding career. I hope their stories have motivated you to consider diving into the development world.

If you have any questions, you can contact me through Twitter. I am always happy to help and offer guidance however I can. I would love to hear your stories and how you got involved with coding. Thank you for taking time to read this post, and have a beautiful day!

It’s the summer of 2011. The clock reads 3:45 AM. It’s hot, I’m drained, but I can’t sleep — not when my image keeps overflowing out of it’s border. No way. I’m scrolling through lines and lines of CSS, coding with minimal knowledge of the subject. I had to make sure my Tumblr layout looked perfect, like most 18 year olds did back then. Priorities, right? Little did I know, this was the beginning of my love for web development.

Finding my way to web development was not linear whatsoever. The pressure of being a teenager and getting into a good college was all I could think of. My parents were constantly giving me “helpful suggestions” on what career I should lean towards. A mixture of anxiety, confusion, indecisiveness, and not wanting to disappoint my parents completely steered me away from web development as a career choice. So, with my path starting me elsewhere, coding slowly became a thing I did one summer as a teenager. It was soon a thing of my past, and as life went on, it was completely forgotten.

Fast forward to 2018, almost a decade later. This is after working so many jobs, varying from all types of paces, environments, and skill sets. I attended not one, but three post secondary schools, to which I did not complete. I knew when I was in my programs that there was something missing. Each time I made the very difficult decision to stop a program, I went back to not knowing what to do. I felt a wave of anxiety pull me under, and I was completely lost. These were incredibly challenging points of my life, but of course I always found my way back to where I needed to be.

I can’t tell you exactly when it clicked, but I was sitting in my boyfriends studio, scrolling through Facebook, when I came across an article titled “Best Coding Schools In Toronto”. I clicked the article out of curiosity, and began to read. Half way through the article, an idea sparked in my head. I turned to my partner and asked if it would be a wise idea to look into coding as a career. He told me to go for it. This came not too long after I had quit my third school, and I was feeling scared of committing to a new chapter in my education. I had an immediate thought of “what if you fail again?” pop into my head. Right away, I wanted to push any thoughts of education to the side, and continue to work at the restaurant I was employed at until I was mentally prepared.

To my luck, my boyfriend did not let me forget about coding. He encouraged me to check out a couple of schools, including one called Red Academy. I thought to myself, “you know what? It wouldn’t hurt to see what this school can share about coding”. I signed up for a tour of the school. I liked the look and energy, and I was intrigued by the idea of starting my coding journey there. Then, they dropped the cost of the school. It was just a couple grand under what I was making in an entire year. I said thank you very much, and I left. I was incredibly disappointed, and overwhelmed with sadness, because I knew there was no way to afford it.

Not wanting to give up on the idea of coding, I looked into ways to self-teach. I was able to learn basic HTML and CSS through Codecademy.com. It was an affordable way to keep myself in check, but I still felt like this wasn’t enough. I eventually started to talk to my friends and coworkers about coding to see if they had any experiences or advice they could share with me. To my luck, one of my coworkers told me they know someone who is a web developer, and that she will hook me up with them.

After connecting with my coworkers friend, we met up to talk about the possibility of a path into web development. We went for a two hour long walk where we talked about life, coding, and of course, this lead me right to Juno College. Being a Juno alumni, they were trying their best to be unbiased towards which schools I should look into. It didn’t matter if they had a bias or not. When they were telling me all about Juno, I couldn’t help but feel inspired, excited, and encouraged. The talk of its inclusive environment, the safe space that the school created, and the community that comes from it made me think, “Wow, I have to go to this school. This is it. This is where my future begins.” After spending my time with this incredibly kind, patient and helpful person, it was then I knew that coding was exactly what I wanted to do no matter what. I thank them all the time for their help, and I’m so lucky that my coworker connected me to this amazing individual. Without their encouragement and help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. (So again, thank you for everything.)

Almost a year later, after quickly (and unexpectedly) moving my way up from server to manager, I had saved enough money to attend the Part-Time Introduction to Web Development program in November of 2019. My instructor was phenomenal, the mentors were very helpful, and it was the start of meeting some great people, some I’m lucky enough to call friends! My family and friends around me noticed my devotion and determination to be successful in this program. They had never seen my drive to study as hard as I could, to learn more, and to do my best. Coding was all I could ever think about, and all I ever wanted to talk about. Of course, at my part-time job, my staff didn’t understand a word I said revolving around code, but they were supportive of me. They saw how important coding was to me, and to help out, they would deliberately cut my hours so I could go home early to study.

After completing the Intro to Web Dev program, I applied to Juno’s bootcamp. I was accepted into the program (cried from joy) and began to study some more in preparation. Now, I am starting my second week of bootcamp, fully online, and I’m incredibly excited for what the future holds. I know there will be struggles, but my time at bootcamp is something I will not take for granted. Even though our entire class is connected via Zoom classrooms and Slack, I have made some wonderful connections that I know will last a lifetime. Once bootcamp is complete, I hope I can one day meet my wonderful instructors and classmates. To think, I will officially be a web developer in a couple of months. All of this is thanks to my curiosity leading me to my passion, on that one fateful summer night, endlessly debugging at 3:45 AM. Moral of the story, if it’s something you don’t want to stop doing, don’t give up. Even if you lose your way, if it’s meant to be, it will find a way.