I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up: a writer. I achieved that goal and am currently a communications director. This means that on a daily basis, I mainly write, edit, write, edit, write, edit and write some more. When my boss informed me he wanted me to take a web design class so I could help redo our company’s less-than-stellar website, I was surprised. What did I know about web design? Not a thing! This was a whole new world for me. But I welcomed the opportunity to learn something new. It was my responsibility to find a course to take, so, of course I went straight to Google for help. I looked at continuing education courses from several local colleges and a few individual training centers, but frankly, they sounded too cumbersome for someone with a full-time job, and also, too expensive! I came upon Tech Talent South and was intrigued by their program. A three-hour class once a week for eight weeks? I could certainly handle the schedule. Also, the agenda didn’t completely overwhelm me and the price was reasonable. I presented this option to my boss, along with two significantly inferior alternates. Duh, of course TTS was the winner. I filled out the online form and I was in!

I was a little nervous going in, since I had no idea what to expect. But right away, I felt at ease in a small class setting with my instructor, Joanna, who explains things clearly and encourages questions. I was grateful that Week 1 began with HTML, the lone coding language I’m familiar with. Week 2 brought a bigger challenge- CSS, which I knew nothing about. After driving myself crazy and spending seven(!) frustrating hours on my homework, I went to Joanna in despair. She was super helpful and made me realize that I actually had the hang of it and was just getting hung up on things that only come more easily with practice.

Currently, I’m in Week 5 of class and have created two websites and am gathering content and sketching ideas for my third and final class project. While I definitely haven’t reached a point where I feeling comfortable with coding, I am amazed by how much I’ve learned in a few short weeks. I am enjoying my classes and appreciate the resources and opportunities TTS provides its students. Coding is pretty fascinating and the old wheels in the brain have been turning as I think of ways I can use what I’m learning. My new skills will come in handy in helping me launch a freelance writing gig on the side, something I’ve always wanted to do. Putting together my own professional website would be a huge help with that. Friends and acquaintances I mention my class to all seems to need, or know someone who needs help with their website and want to know if I can help them. As it turns out… I believe I can! I am grateful to be learning a whole new skillset I previously had never considered. I’m excited to continue learning more cool things about web design and implementing them into my world.