I am currently an Animation Specialist for the State of Louisiana and even though people automatically assume I’m a coder because of my field, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I decided to take this class to supplement my current skillset as an artist and be able to create personal projects that are more dynamic. There ARE coding components that are available in animation, so I’m eager to learn coding and use that as my gateway into possibly learning Python in the future and being able to create scripts to make my workflow easier while I’m modeling or texturing in Maya.

Right now, I’m in week four of my part-time Ruby class and I’ve had many failures and successes. I’m getting a front row seat to why people may not be pursuing coding on their own. If I didn’t have my instructor to dig me out of the trenches, I’m not sure how I would be getting back on track week after week. Google has been more of a foe than a friend.

After each week of classes, the following weekend I dive into whatever I need to better understand what we went over. That can be looking up the definitions of all the new words we’ve learned, laboring through an HTML/CSS tutorial to reinforce the basics and expand my knowledge or doing the TryGit tutorial and then spending the next few (read several) hours of trial and error to FINALLY figure out how to push my files to GitHub. I take pride in being able to figure out things on my own. They are my mini victories. And if all else fails, I can ask my instructor about it.

During these eight weeks, I have my instructor to lean on, but I’m learning that there is a community of people who are willing to help you along the way no matter what level of knowledge you have and I find that comforting. I’m hoping that by the end of the class, I’ll be able to wrap my head around everything and maybe even be able to label myself a coder!