I’m finally through with the edX course I’d made a goal out of finishing. Actually, rather than finishing, I ran out of time while working through the practice problems at the end of the course. There were eleven of them, and I made it to number eight. Those eight problems were everything I wanted to do when I first began the course, so I’m a little put out that I can’t go back to it unless I find the GTx course again. (Somehow, it’s very hard to locate the course through the available search bar.)
In those eight problems, I learned about “if statements” and Boolean operators such as “and”, “or” and “not”; making a short program that recommended clothing accessories like a hat or umbrella; or finding how much one needs to invest in order to reach a monetary goal in 5 years. They were fun, and I’m sad that other hands-on practice earlier in the course was locked behind what I believe is a $180 price tag, in order to have full access to the course’s hands-on problems.
$180 might not seem like a lot for lifetime access, but it really adds up when considering that the course is part of a much larger 4-unit bundle. I’ve decided to cut my losses and keep moving.
I’ve wanted to start a tradition: that every July, I get to just completely unwind and prioritize having my old way of fun. This means reading comics, watching movies, tv shows, drawing, traveling… things I don’t really get to do anymore because I have a job, and on my off-time I study. First it was studying biochemistry online, then it was high school math, and now it’s programming… it’s been an eventful year of learning for me, as my new year’s resolution was to start moving in a direction that would land me a career I could be happy doing.
Something different than the yard work position I’ve had for the last 3 years, which isn’t bad, if I’m being honest… well, except for the mosquitoes and poison ivy… so much poison ivy. Hmmm… what can I say? It’s not the end of the world if I continue working yards, but it’s relatively fun being able to program. I daresay, more fun than pulling weeds, and shoveling dirt and mulch. Well, maybe not shoveling dirt, mulch, and cobble rocks… that’s pretty fun, but definitely pulling weeds is no fun for me. Neither is it fun planting the flowers, trees, and bushes, if I’m being honest. See, I’m pretty weak, and the earth isn’t the most giving of objects, but…
Back to the present: this new tradition leaves me a 7-day window where I’m going to try and learn HTML on my free time. When I get back to work in August, I’m going to try out boot.dev, see if I like it.