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Laura Bentz
2,002 PointsSelf-taught turned Techdegree student
This post is more of me sharing my excitement rather than asking a question. I was reading in the Front-end Web Dev Slack channels yesterday and noticed a few other ladies in my position: I'm a self-taught front-end coder and web designer and for years have been hacking away just fine. But! I decided on a whim to sign up for the Techdegree because I was feeling a bit behind the curve. I rely on WordPress for a lot of my website builds and I noticed that lately I was relying on it when it may not have been the right tool, simply because I was afraid to code. Well, coding is where I started out, and it's really where my excitement is! I first played with HTML tables in AOL (oh geez) back in the mid-90s. I think I was feeling bummed that I got a little rusty with code, but didn't realize it until I signed up for a Techdegree.
I now have an evolving Evernote page with a list of crucial things I need to know in HTML and CSS -- things that were all "a-ha" moments... things that would probably have taken me hours to find solutions to when Googling for why-this-thing-is-broken. I've been in the Techdegree now for just 3 weeks and already feel lightyears more confident in responsive design. I'm looking forward to getting into JS, a requirement I see a lot now in job postings.
So thank you to Treehouse, for the thoughtful nature of how coursework is outlined and presented, and for making it fun and approachable. I'm loving it -- it's a real confidence-booster. :)
7 Answers
Jesus Mendoza
23,289 PointsGood luck and have fun! If you have any doubt don't forget to ask here.
Rob Allessi
8,600 PointsThis is seriously awesome! Keep it up, Laura!
Ryan Carson
23,287 PointsThis is so exciting Laura!! I'm impressed by your hard work and determination. We're proud to be serving you!
Laura Bentz
2,002 PointsYay!
I'm curious, is there public data anywhere indicating how many Techdegree students are currently enrolled? How big are we? :)
Londa Quisling
5,022 PointsHi Laura! Thank you for the positive feedback and I'm happy to hear you are gaining more confidence and skills! That's our goal! We just launched our Techdegree programs a few months ago and already have over 1,100 students enrolled.
Sebastian de Rementeria
2,386 PointsLaura, it's good to read some positive comments. I finished my trial week and have gone straight for the degree, I had some previous experience with HTML and CSS but wanted to really get back on track as that was quite a while ago. I'm now wondering if I have rushed into this decision. I mean $25 to $49 to be able to download videos seems like a reasonable bump up in price, but $199 that is soo much more money. It seems there are few people who have signed up to the Techdegree which is a bit worrying too, can anyone reassure me me that I have made the right choice? If not I may downgrade...
Laura Bentz
2,002 PointsLots of people comment on the price of the techdegree. Is it a sizeable leap from the other tiers? Yes. However, if you look into code bootcamp schools and factor in how long the average person takes to complete this degree, it's a competitive price. I figure that when I work as a freelance web developer, it ideally would take only a couple of hours to be paid around $199, so in terms of a business expense, it's not bad.
For me, personally, I like having the curriculum crafted for me. I know I could DIY and do the videos and projects myself, but I've done that already for years with books and Google and in my experience it left me with gaps in my knowledge. In this instance the work is done for me -- I don't have to think about what courses I might need to pick, or in what order. I want to pay for someone else to tell me what the industry thinks is a well-rounded education. I think they do that really well.
I'm loving it, but this is exactly what I was looking for. You could probably get the same knowledge out of handpicking the classes yourself, but I wanted to trust the instructors to do that for me. I was tired of doing that work on my own.
That's my three cents. :)
Sebastian de Rementeria
2,386 PointsLaura: Thanks so much for your feedback. I have to admit that just after writing my comment and reading some other comments it does make sense, I don't have time to try and figure out which things suit my needs best and also having direct contact with a tutor once a month will be be valuable. I also agree that having taught myself (basic stuff) I also can now see gaps in my knowledge.