New Beginnings.
Tags: webdev, devops, devjournal, development
Published: 2021-09-30 16:26:44

##Who I am…
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My name is Andrew Bonacci. I'm 31 years old, happily married and have recently embarked on a web development journey. I had my first try at HTML back in the early 2000s on the blogging website called Xanga. 14-year-old me thought it was so cool that I could make text do different things by modifying the markups. As time went on, I had some practice with Lua in ROBLOX when I was a late teenager. I didn't get very far because I lacked proper guidance, but I was able to tinker with some of the code and bring my creations to life.

However, as much as I enjoyed these things, they never became much more than a hobby. Rather, I pursued education because of my desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Even throughout my time as an educator, the one constant has always been software and technology. Other people I worked with would often ask me for help with their software or hardware issues. The more I did this, the more I felt a desire to pursue something I felt I should have done long ago.

##The turning point.
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Knowing that I wanted to pursue web development and not knowing where to begin with self-study, I began researching possible classes and programs. The first thing I noticed was the number of *software boot camps…*

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Some of these sounded promising in the beginning, but one thing that most had in common was that they were leading with potential income in various software and web development careers. Of course, a nice salary is always a plus, but I felt like those places were not focused on the *passion* of it all. I wanted to be a part of a course that focused on the ***love*** of web development and programming; I’m inspired by those who want to consistently grow and learn more about it.

In the summer of 2021, while continuing my search for ways to learn programming and development, I came across a Reddit post talking about a mentorship program through [Perpetual Education](perpetual.education). I was fascinated by their website and by how precise their points about learning were, so I decided to schedule a video interview with Derek and Ivy. They were super friendly, welcoming and they gave me an overview of how the course works. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of it. What I love the most about Perpetual Education so far is the strong sense of community among students and staff. Students help each other with lesson content and Derek is highly flexible when it comes to working with students individually.

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The course really breaks things down and starts from the very beginning; so far, we've learned about operating systems, the file system, visual design concepts, how certain things in software came to be the way they are, and more. The idea is to build a strong foundation and mold the way we think so that we don't just learn the code, we learn how to *think* like web designers and programmers. There is a good deal of accountability (**which is absolute must!**); it's crucial to keep up with the content and do your best to go above and beyond what is expected of you, but it's a wonderful experience so far. I've learned more in almost 3 weeks than I've learned in months trying things on my own. The students in my group are currently working on a collaborative project which brings us together even more.

##In conclusion…
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I feel happy to be a part of the Perpetual Education learning experience and I'm confident that this will help me on my web development journey. If anyone would like to know more, I welcome you to reach out! I'll be sharing more about my experiences as they unfold, so please feel free to subscribe. I’m always open to learning from others and sharing ideas!

Regards,
Andrew