Reflecting on my WEB journey, I will be sharing highlights from my freshman year. I hope that my experiences until now help you in YOUR journey. Without further ado, let me tell you about my freshman year in WEB.
Concepts and Skills I Learned
The very first thing I remember learning (coding-related) is that even one small mistake can mess the entire thing up. For example, I would be coding in CSS for the background color. Trying to change the color to light blue, I would code “backgruond-color: lightblue;”. However, this would not work because I spelled “background” wrong. That one mistake would prevent the background from changing color.
A skill I learned this year was problem-solving. I learned how to find bugs and debug them. One way I did this was by utilizing Google, and Mr. Choate’s Sidekick. I also asked my classmates and teacher for help when I couldn’t solve the issue.
Impactful Assignments and Projects
Out of all of the work we had, I found the coding exercises, and the first and last projects to be the most impactful.
The coding exercises helped retain the knowledge we gained from the textbooks, and enhanced our coding skills.
The “Animal Website” project was the first project of the year. We had to do this project when I was still trying to learn HTML and CSS. Therefore, I found it difficult. Trying to code regardless of the difficulty is what made me grow. I learned LOTS LOTS LOTS during this time. The things that I learned from the first project are engrained in my mind. It just stuck with me because it was difficult.
The last project, the “Country Website”, is also one of the projects that helped me greatly. All of the codes we used, we had already learnt; this project was basically a review. While coding, I had to try to remember the codes (which I previously used in other assignments). This enhanced my brain power. I searched up the codes that I could not remember. Searching them up and reusing the codes also worked as a review.
Challenges and How I Overcame Them
I faced many challenges along the way just as any person does. The most difficult challenges were CSS-related. I struggled with styling divs, grids, and flex-boxes. I didn’t understand the proper concept of it for a while. Soon, our instructor, Mr. Choate, explained divs to us. After that, it became easier. The same thing happened with grids and flex-boxes. Later on, I learned from YouTube videos to enhance my knowledge further.
My Progress and Future Goals
I have already mentioned my progress in the previous paragraphs. I have learned enough of HTML and CSS to code a pretty simple website. My future goal is to improve my coding and develop websites that behave smoothly (with the use of JavaScript).
Another goal that I have is to communicate with my classmates more smoothly about projects and assignments.
Summary
My freshman year experience in WEB has definitely built and strengthened my coding abilities. The challenges were not really challenges. They were opportunities for me to grow. The coding exercises, and the first and last projects had the most significant impact on my skills.
I have two goals for the next school year. First, I want to improve my coding skills to make websites “behave” well. By this, I mean that I want to use JavaScript. Secondly, I want to communicate with my classmates better. Whenever there are projects or assignments, the team members need to communicate for smooth progress. The lack of this can limit the website quality.
By remaining determined throughout the next three years, I can successfully transition into the higher-level education system. Then, I can move on to the work field. I am looking forward to learn more and grow in this field.