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Kurtiss Frost
Kurtiss Frost

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I took the plunge into CSS. Day 1 thoughts.

So, I know I have probably mentioned it before but, I feel like I should reiterate it again for this post: I want to be a front end developer.

I have always loved making websites ever since I was a teenager in high school computer class. I never thought I would get to take that passion very far because the area I live in is not exactly the best place for jobs like that. Keep in mind, this was around 2005 to 2007 and I hadn't really figured out how the whole "being an adult" thing worked yet. I didn't think of looking for a remote job and I didn't dare consider moving (I had lived here my whole life and all my friends and family were here so it was a very hard choice to make). So, I kind of let my passion die and gave up on my CS degree that I was going for.

Fast forward to now and I am working for a company called Modis Engineering at a Google data center. Working there really lit a fire under my ass and rekindled that creative spark. I began looking into what I would need to learn to be able to try my hand at being a front end developer.

In my youth, I dabbled in HTML3 and I was vaguely familiar with it but, I never touched CSS or any other languages back then. So I kind of wanted to start off brushing up on my HTML a bit and trying to learn some CSS as I go. Using these 2 languages, I can work on some simple sites and try to work on improving not only my design skills but also my critical thinking and code formatting skills.

So I took the plunge and started learning CSS. My mind was blown at how cool it was. So far, from what I have learned on day 1, the syntax isn't too complicated. I mostly have to remember what everything is called. The creativity it gives me with just adding this to my HTML knowledge is mind boggling.

I've looked at other people's code before from places like GitHub and Codepen but, I haven't actually done anything on my own yet. Making a few simple buttons and being able to format my plain ol HTML into something that looks cool is a great feeling. I am pretty early on in my coding journey but, I am having a lot of fun learning and I can't wait until I get to "the good stuff" (more advanced CSS coupled with JavaScript).

For some reason, I had this fear of getting started. A fear of failure. I have been telling my friends that I was going to start learning this for several months but, every time I would go to start, I would sit down at my computer to get started, I would either psyche myself out, or my ADHD would get the better of me and I would never start.

Well, that ends today. I literally just have to remember the old adage "Just Do It." If I don't try, I'll never know, ya know? Once I put those first few lines of CSS down, my passion turned from a flame into a roaring inferno. I was motivated and I want to learn more.

I look forward to learning more on this journey and I can't wait to see what I can create once my skills and tool kit are improved upon. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

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