My Pandemic Year: A Learning Inventory
Tags: devjournal, wecoded, womenintech, yearinreview
Published: 2021-03-13 02:28:47

One year ago this week, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency and... you know the rest. 

Naturally, I was marveling - along with everyone else - at how we've been in this situation for an ENTIRE YEAR. It got me thinking about what I've been doing all this time (aside from freaking out). I haven't been binge-watching, baking bread, or bird-watching. (OK, *yes* - I did see Tiger King, enjoyed lots of #procraftination, and started playing chess). But mainly: I've been programming. 

Aside from working on projects, I've been taking classes, writing notes, coding katas, reading blogs, attending online conferences, listening to podcasts, joining discord/slack channels, tuning in to twitch broadcasts and zoom meetups, scrolling through twitter, and on and on. 

![my desktop](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/62t1do8oke9mxg3r9io6.jpg)*<< my desktop; wine means it was a Friday night >>*

So I decided to do an inventory of ALL THE THINGS. All the learning resources I've been absorbing over the past 12 months. This includes the courses or writing that improved my skills and understanding, listed by instructor, in mostly chronological order. And I can recommend all of them, they are all excellent classes and instructors. 
 
* Maximilian Schwarzmuller - Udemy/Academind: [NodeJS - The Complete Guide](https://www.udemy.com/course/nodejs-the-complete-guide/) 
* Bharath Thippireddy - Udemy: [Maven](https://www.udemy.com/course/mavencrashcourse/)
* Kathryn Hodge - YouTube: [30 Days of Code](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcLMSci1ZoPs6jV0O3LBJwChjRon3lE1F) (via HackerRank) + [LinkedIn Learning](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/kathryn-hodge)
* Brad Schiff - Udemy: [Wordpress Development](https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-wordpress-developer-php-javascript/)
* New Horizons - Udemy: [D3.js Data Visualization](https://www.udemy.com/course/d3jsbasics/)
* Daniel Shiffman - YouTube: The Coding Train, [Data & APIs in JavaScript](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRqwX-V7Uu6YxDKpFzf_2D84p0cyk4T7X)
* Dan Abramov - [Just JavaScript](https://justjavascript.com/) email series 
* Traversy Media - YouTube/Udemy: [JavaScript](https://www.udemy.com/course/web-projects-with-vanilla-javascript/) 
* Stephen Grider - Udemy: [Modern React with Redux](https://www.udemy.com/course/react-the-complete-guide-incl-redux/)
* Colt Steele - Udemy: [JavaScript Algorithms & Data Structures](https://www.udemy.com/course/js-algorithms-and-data-structures-masterclass/learn/lecture/8344040#overview)
* Clement Mihailescu - [AlgoExpert](https://www.algoexpert.io/product): Data Structures, Algorithms, Systems Design Fundamentals
* Curran Kelleher - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/currankelleher): D3 & Data Visualization
* Anjana Vakil - YouTube: [Observable](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOHIJAFwtkEfEsafMd9BY3KWsRrz7FV5e)
* [Wes Bos](https://wesbos.com/courses) - JavaScript, React, Next.js

Plus so many other people who contribute valuable content that I enjoy and learn from like: [Saron Yitbarek](https://twitter.com/saronyitbarek?lang=en), [Ali Spittel](https://twitter.com/ASpittel), [Quincy Larson](https://twitter.com/ossia), [Scott Hanselman](https://twitter.com/shanselman), [Cassidy Williams](https://twitter.com/cassidoo), [Colby Fayock](https://twitter.com/colbyfayock), [Jason Lengsdorf](https://www.twitch.tv/jlengstorf), [Josh Comeau](https://twitter.com/JoshWComeau), [Joe Karlsson](https://twitter.com/JoeKarlsson1), [Randall Kanna](https://twitter.com/RandallKanna), [Andrei Neagoie](https://twitter.com/AndreiNeagoie) ... 

At some point I won't have the extra time anymore to continue consistently taking in this much. So even though it's been an incredibly difficult year all around, I am grateful that I've been able to learn so much. 😅🥳💃💪

***
*Thanks to @icons_8 for making the cover photo available freely on [@unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/dhZtNlvNE8M?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink)* 🎁