I have gone a lot of different routes before becoming a web
developer. A few of my friends were sysadmins, so I started
studying Linux and Networking. Feeling discouraged because I didn't
have a set direction, I decided to pursue a Computer Science degree.
I attended SJSU, but their computer science program
is absolutely horrid. In my first Java programming class,
70% of the students dropped. Out of who was left, only a 1/3 passed.
There were four unseen teachers above
our teacher, they dictated the homework and tests. The teacher that
was "teaching" us refused to help with homework or any lab
assignments. So I dropped, but tried again next semester.
This time, the head of the CS department was teaching programming in Java.
The teacher was completely arrogant, insulting anyone who asked questions, then asking
why no one was asking questions. He was a professional, not a teacher. Eventually, SJSU
decided to lower the requirements for a CS degree because a majority of the students
were dropping. They dropped the physics requirement.
I decided to drop the CS degree and went on to finish my music degree,
pursuing music tech.
However, I wasn't about to give up. I decided to teach myself
by pursuing other non traditional routes.
Everything you need to know is on the web, but there is still a
lot you won't learn by teaching yourself.
Proper coding techniques, which technologies to learn, algorithms,
which field to pursue, and more.
In the end, I decided to combine classroom instruction with self instruction.
So far, I have gone halfway through a CS degree, attended multiple bootcamp
preps (Hack Reactor and App Academy), Hack Reactor SSP, worked
through multiple coding websites, studied Linux/Unix,
Unix Shell scripting, Ruby, Javascript, networking, and
then finally attended a coding bootcamp (General Assembly).
