And welcome to another edition of For the Love Of. Today, I'm so very happy to have my delightful and talented sister-in-law Tina (or Christina) as my second guest. When I asked her to write a post about something in her life that she felt passionate about, not only was a post about writing code something I had not expected, but I also discovered that reading a piece about the love one can have for code or coding, will make me cry.
So please, enjoy. I don't expect everyone to cry like I did, but I think this post will make you look at the combination of computers and math a little differently.
***
A few years ago, I left the security of the corporate world and steady paychecks to start my own business. As it turned out, that particular business was not right for me, but the journey led me to where I am today. And I mean that about as literally as one could...I am sitting in a comfy chair at my computer with my mini fireplace going and my dog by my side. And I get paid to do this every day! I flip flop constantly about what to call myself, but basically I'm a web designer and content manager. Generally, I love all things internet and if there's a way to do something online, I'm on board. If someone needs help with their website, social media, blog, etc, I'm over the moon when I get to be the one to come to the rescue. My newest motto is "Let me be your geek!"
The thing I love most about making websites is the code. Creating the design is fun, but I can get lost for hours playing around with the code, manipulating until it produces exactly what I want it to. It took me a long time to realize that this is what I love doing, and once I did, I was amazed I hadn't figured it out earlier. Computer code is essentially a combination of math and language, and those were my two favourite subjects in school. I even majored in languages at university. How I never put two and two together sooner, I'll never understand...especially given my love of math!
I wish I knew how much I loved coding
earlier in my life. I did have a few brief encounters with coding basics
as I grew up, but there were no formal learning paths back then. Even
now a lot of code education is self-taught online rather than via formal
school programs. Recently, I started thinking about a new phase in my
adventures with coding. I know there are lots of kids out there like me,
who might love coding but not realise it yet. They probably haven't
even been exposed to it. So I am working towards creating an
extra-curricular coding program for elementary school students.
Earlier
this month I had the immense pleasure of teaching computer coding to
the entire grade three population at my son's school as part of an
initiative called Hour of Code.
It was so exciting to watch these 8 year olds figure out the basics of
coding a computer game. Watching their faces light up as they made the
Angry Bird catch the evil pig because they programmed it to move and
make decisions is priceless.
Coding with my
son's classmates reinforced how much there needs to be a coding program
available to them, and how much I want to be the one to bring that
program to life.
***
See? Don't you want to try a bit of coding now? Also, I'm going to put it out there even if Tina didn't her in post, but if you're looking for a web designer or other things internetish, Tina's your girl. Here's the link to her site.
I'd like to thank Tina very much for being a guest on For the Love Of...today. If you know of someone who has a love they should share, or if you would like to talk about what gets you out of bed in the morning, please drop me a line at:
cindy.rule73@gmail.com
I'd like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. This year has not been easy, but we've had a lot of love and support and we've appreciated every bit of it.
Until next time,
Cin
Great post, Christina
ReplyDeleteUB