Rebooting

I am honestly the worst when it comes to updating my blog. It doesn't necessarily help when I'm once again struggling to juggle between a bunch of things in life. That being said, I have decided to really lay out my goals in a more meaningful and possibly, realistic.

Parting ways with a company I have so lovingly hated after 4.5 years is a bittersweet moment. I am entering my last week of working at Starbucks. However, I have come to realize that I am moving on to better things. While I will still be working in the service industry (aka the bottom of the food chain), I am hopeful that with a more consistent schedule, I will be able to carve out dedicated time everyday to keep learning React.

Learning React has been super tough to do on my own. I never had the best foundation in JavaScript. Most of the time, I find myself constantly forgetting syntax. Learning React honestly is a struggle because I am learning a shit ton of things all at once - ES6 and Webpack on their own are obstacles I have to overcome. Coming from an Angular background, it took me quite some time to understand the concepts in React. Nonetheless, React actually makes a lot more sense to me than Angular. Ask me about two-way data binding in Angular, I probably won't be able to spit out an answer remotely close to the good intentions of the creators. Despite not being an expert in React or let alone an intermediate, I am really loving React. The components concept really help me break down a website into different parts. As I am planning to migrate my blog to Gatsby, I am really going to force myself to break down the site into different 'components'. I feel like that would not only lay out a good foundational understanding of React, it will also make building it way easier. That alone is something to be excited about.

I usually would go straight to videos, but after reading this great piece by Nolan Grace about the importance of reading documentation. I am trying to do both simultaneously. While watching videos is helpful because it keeps me somewhat engaged. I am basically mindlessly coding along and frantically typing on my keyboard. Combined with official documentation, or even unofficial ones at times, I am able to clarify misconceptions or polish on concepts I didn't necessarily catch onto while going through the videos.

I am way more hopeful than ever to be able to tackle React. It's like that hypothetical monster that's been hiding under your bed for years, and you finally decide to confront that fear.