*whew!!*
*Deep breath*
...zomg so it's been a ride lately. From the day after Thanksgiving until about 3 days ago, work was INSANE. They were saying some of our products were up 60-70% in sales from last year. O.o I don't know the final numbers just yet, but I've been told they are all record breaking. And we've been struggling to stay afloat, between people getting the flu and people quitting in droves. Yes, literally. I've got a lot of extra OT monies coming my way. (I barely escaped the flu, just had a horrible pain in my stomach for 3 days.)
But I'm not here to talk about work. Well, current work. I wanted to share my school experiences so far, because it's the first chance I've really had to sit and collect my thoughts.
So... what's a Nanodegree anyways?
I mentioned in my last update that I started a Nanodegree program for front-end web development. Well, a Nanodegree is a brand new program ran by udacity.com that is essentially a "mini-degree", so to speak. It's heavily supported by AT&T, which is how I found out about it. Since my soon-to-be mother-in-law works for them, she got me into the very second class, the very first class open to the public beyond current AT&T employees.
The idea is "Hey, let's teach you just the set of current skills and get you a job." Since it takes colleges and universities time to update their curriculum, and technology is changing so fast, we'll make it quicker so that by the time you're done, you won't be already out-of-date.
So the whole thing is estimated to take 6-9 months for an absolute beginner working 10 hours/week. If you know what you're doing or work on it more than that, then you're done faster and it costs less (since they charge per month). Plus you have access to their forums and job-hunting posts, and to their google+ community where they upload videos and answer questions about the classes live. And they do resume workshops, etc.
In order to complete it, you need to submit 6 projects. And then those projects are essentially your new portfolio. Each project focuses on a different aspect; for my nanodegree, the projects are: HTML/CSS, Javascript/jQuery, object-oriented Javascript and HTML5 Canvas, website performance optimization, and AJAX. Plus a free class on how to use Git and GitHub, since you have to use it to submit later projects.
In the last month, despite working crazy hours, I got my project #1 submitted six weeks early. XD Still waiting to hear on feedback to make sure it passes their standards, but they said it would take up to 2 weeks and it's only been 12 days so far. I'm relatively confident in my code, though.
Each class is 3 lessons, and each lesson is a ton of short little videos ranging in length from 45 seconds to 10 minutes. They wanted to design the classes so you could break them down in your busy schedule throughout the day if need be. And then there's quizzes thrown in to make sure you're actually absorbing the stuff.
That part actually reminds me of teamtreehouse, which I took a break from and haven't subscribed for several months now. But the forums are full of activity, and I think Udacity explains things in different ways than I've heard in the past, making it easier for me to understand. I'm finally getting the gap filled in that I've been struggling with: the knowledge of the code itself and how to apply it in real life!
I was frustrated for months because I could understand and read HTML and CSS, but I didn't really know what I should do with it in a way my head could wrap around. I finally got it with this class!!! And I finally figured out that I'm not happy with the design aspect itself, and I want to focus on just the coding.
So that's my current situation with that. Also it's my day off, and I just spent about 12+hours going through the entire Git/GitHub class in an attempt to get caught up and start my javascript soon, which is due on January 15.
@.@
So much new stuff and brains rattling around with new terms. But zomg if I can get through this I'll have so much new stuff for my resume and job hunting, and I'll feel so much more confident about it. I already do and I've barely started.
And the best part? My boy knows *almost* all this stuff already, and he's willing to help me get through this when I get stuck.
Zomg new job, I can feel it inching closer, dangit! Maybe I can get one of the 150 AT&T internships that are supposedly coming soon to encourage people to take this program...
Streaming has been lacking due to work and school. I'm trying for at least one night a week right now. Last week I started streaming Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix, since we got the PS3 working well with my broadcasting program now.
And I'm level 21 in Fantasy Life now. I play 10-20 minutes a day tops most days, and I still love it so much.
So that's it from me. How are you guys doing?
This entry was originally posted at http://orenda.dreamwidth.org/21664.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
...zomg so it's been a ride lately. From the day after Thanksgiving until about 3 days ago, work was INSANE. They were saying some of our products were up 60-70% in sales from last year. O.o I don't know the final numbers just yet, but I've been told they are all record breaking. And we've been struggling to stay afloat, between people getting the flu and people quitting in droves. Yes, literally. I've got a lot of extra OT monies coming my way. (I barely escaped the flu, just had a horrible pain in my stomach for 3 days.)
But I'm not here to talk about work. Well, current work. I wanted to share my school experiences so far, because it's the first chance I've really had to sit and collect my thoughts.
So... what's a Nanodegree anyways?
I mentioned in my last update that I started a Nanodegree program for front-end web development. Well, a Nanodegree is a brand new program ran by udacity.com that is essentially a "mini-degree", so to speak. It's heavily supported by AT&T, which is how I found out about it. Since my soon-to-be mother-in-law works for them, she got me into the very second class, the very first class open to the public beyond current AT&T employees.
The idea is "Hey, let's teach you just the set of current skills and get you a job." Since it takes colleges and universities time to update their curriculum, and technology is changing so fast, we'll make it quicker so that by the time you're done, you won't be already out-of-date.
So the whole thing is estimated to take 6-9 months for an absolute beginner working 10 hours/week. If you know what you're doing or work on it more than that, then you're done faster and it costs less (since they charge per month). Plus you have access to their forums and job-hunting posts, and to their google+ community where they upload videos and answer questions about the classes live. And they do resume workshops, etc.
In order to complete it, you need to submit 6 projects. And then those projects are essentially your new portfolio. Each project focuses on a different aspect; for my nanodegree, the projects are: HTML/CSS, Javascript/jQuery, object-oriented Javascript and HTML5 Canvas, website performance optimization, and AJAX. Plus a free class on how to use Git and GitHub, since you have to use it to submit later projects.
In the last month, despite working crazy hours, I got my project #1 submitted six weeks early. XD Still waiting to hear on feedback to make sure it passes their standards, but they said it would take up to 2 weeks and it's only been 12 days so far. I'm relatively confident in my code, though.
Each class is 3 lessons, and each lesson is a ton of short little videos ranging in length from 45 seconds to 10 minutes. They wanted to design the classes so you could break them down in your busy schedule throughout the day if need be. And then there's quizzes thrown in to make sure you're actually absorbing the stuff.
That part actually reminds me of teamtreehouse, which I took a break from and haven't subscribed for several months now. But the forums are full of activity, and I think Udacity explains things in different ways than I've heard in the past, making it easier for me to understand. I'm finally getting the gap filled in that I've been struggling with: the knowledge of the code itself and how to apply it in real life!
I was frustrated for months because I could understand and read HTML and CSS, but I didn't really know what I should do with it in a way my head could wrap around. I finally got it with this class!!! And I finally figured out that I'm not happy with the design aspect itself, and I want to focus on just the coding.
So that's my current situation with that. Also it's my day off, and I just spent about 12+hours going through the entire Git/GitHub class in an attempt to get caught up and start my javascript soon, which is due on January 15.
@.@
So much new stuff and brains rattling around with new terms. But zomg if I can get through this I'll have so much new stuff for my resume and job hunting, and I'll feel so much more confident about it. I already do and I've barely started.
And the best part? My boy knows *almost* all this stuff already, and he's willing to help me get through this when I get stuck.
Zomg new job, I can feel it inching closer, dangit! Maybe I can get one of the 150 AT&T internships that are supposedly coming soon to encourage people to take this program...
Streaming has been lacking due to work and school. I'm trying for at least one night a week right now. Last week I started streaming Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix, since we got the PS3 working well with my broadcasting program now.
And I'm level 21 in Fantasy Life now. I play 10-20 minutes a day tops most days, and I still love it so much.
So that's it from me. How are you guys doing?
This entry was originally posted at http://orenda.dreamwidth.org/21664.html. Please comment there using OpenID.