Company & Energy

The first time I tried to learn coding, the biggest drawback was my lack of proficiency with the keyboard. It was one thing trying to learn a new concept, and it was another thing to be slowed down even more by your own hands. So I gave up. But something interesting happened years later that would change everything.

I had made friends over the years and some of them turned out to be really good with touch typing. When they were working, I would just watch them in amazement at how they never looked at their hands to type. Soon enough, I began to desire to be just like them, and perhaps even fast enough that I'd hardly ever think much when I type.

The desire to learn grew strong enough to drive me to learn for myself and even brave through the learning curve. Weeks in, weeks out, I was improving. But really, what kept fueling my desire was being with people that inspired me daily by being around them. While many people I knew had already gotten used to the keyboard at the time I was finally learning, it surely wasn't too late. Because it was years later that I knew I had greatly helped myself for things to come in the future.

I finally picked up learning coding again. This time, I didn't have that hand-mind coordination barrier, if I can call it that. It became much easier to just focus on learning to code rather than also struggling with typing sytaxes. Yeesh! Even the thought of being frustrated again already makes me feel exasperated. Learning to code was now another mountain to climb, and yet again, I needed people.

Rather than be at home on my own trying to learn by myself, I switched things up by registering at a co-workspace nearby. I only intended to make use of their comfy facility and internet service to boost my productivity, but little did I know I was stepping into the lion's den.

Okay. I was just being dramatic. It was rather the opposite. For days, while I worked there, I didn't quite realize that I was sitting in the midst of experienced and working-class developers. I would only just notice every now and then that they often had VS Code and GitHub open on their laptops. It was in conversations with some of them that I realized that they had been coding for years.

Walking in the workspace and seeing these individuals code, talk about code, build and communicate about their work regularly inspired me. At some point, one of them got a glance at my screen and found the online courses I was taking and said, "Great course!" Apparently, he took it years ago. You can imagine the kind of encouragement I felt. And slowly, I learned and got better.

What I have learned over the years is that the kind of people you surround yourself with eventually influence you. Somehow, you think, talk, and act like them. Most likely, you learned some catchphrases or slangs you use now from close friends. At least I know I did.