100 Days of code challenge - worth it !  
Tags: 100daysofcode, codenewbie, womenintech, freecodecamp
Published: 2020-04-11 19:16:22

A little more than a year ago I found myself at a crossroads; I was preparing to change careers. The only problem is, I had no experience or knowledge of the career I wanted to get into. All I knew is I wanted to learn to code and to pursue a future in tech.
Now, I'll spare you the whole story of that arduous endeavor because, _thats not what we're here to talk about_.
We're here to talk about the:

### 100 Days Of Code Challenge 
#### _and why I think YOU should participate_  

This challenge played an enormous role in my career change as well as my growth as a developer, and helped me to immerse myself into a supportive community of learners. 

I had just started looking into freecodecamp.org in late 2018 without a clue about what I was doing, what the jargon meant, or anything really. I was reading everything I could about success stories about career changes, and resources and stumbled upon the 100daysOfCode challenge, and I got excited. It felt like something I could do, something I could accomplish everyday, something that had an attainable end goal. As a newb... this was appealing.

so what is it? 
as I understood it 

#### the _100 Days Of Code_ challenge is a public commitment to code for at least an hour, everyday, for 100 days and tweet about it.

My public commitment was made on twitter- then every day I tweeted with the day and the hashtag #100DaysOfCode

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/r2a7ymync2vl1ezzdapa.png)

Since that day I have completed 3 full 100 days code and one partial (I started over in the new year) so 356 days. 
In that time I completed a coding bootcamp, attended awesome conferences, made some amazing dev friends and got my first job in tech as Junior Dev! Participating in the 100 days challenge helped to connect me to other people just starting out, as well as established devs who could lend a helping hand and all levels in between. It helped to keep me motivated, and to keep me practicing, to keep me coding- which is the goal above all.

So let me share what I've learned and how I might go about my next 100 days of code.

###First things first
This challenge is to keep you coding, everyday - that being said - Life happens, this is not meant to cause anxiety or to stress you out. It's to help you learn, and improve your skills. It's meant to aid you, not hinder. Keep on it, everyday, but remember the purpose it be helpful.

###Interact with other people participating 
Check out what other people are doing. You may find useful information, or have tips someone else could use. Use it as an opportunity to build your network, make friends, find coding buddies (the best), and essentially become part of a bigger community. You will be surprised how important that can be to you in the future.

###Practice Deliberately
When I first started I felt like I was wandering around in the dark. I would work on something for a week and then find something else to work on, I was all over the place.
I would suggest setting some goals for yourself. Figure out what you want to learn, what you want to improve, and give yourself some milestones to hit. It doesn't have to be one thing, or one track- but you should see the end of the path and be heading in that direction.
Setting _measurable_ goals will help 

###Don't worry about "boring" tweets
At one point I got caught up in trying to put something "new" in every tweet- this only aided in me not staying focused to one or two things. It's ok if you're coding the same stuff. Practice is about do the same thing and improving on it. You can find a new thought or observation in what you're doing but sometimes its gonna feel like you're just saying the same thing you did the day before. This is fine- tweet it anyway! 
 
###Consistency 
Consistency is important in any endeavor. If you can stick to a schedule do it. It will make it easier to get into the right mindset and will help you it your goals.

#KEEP ON CODING 
practice practice practice

I know some people focus heavy on tutorials, others on just making things.
If you can find a tutorial where you make something I think you got the best of both worlds. Build stuff, ask questions, code, code, code.

This is what I have for now folks, and I'll add more as it comes to me, as well as resources. If you have tips or resources add em!! Im open to questions, find me the twittah https://twitter.com/thrivensunshine
I highly suggest trying 100 Days Of Code!  

_Remember its supposed to be helpful_
_Interact with other people! Get Involved_
_Practice Deliberately_
_Tweet regardless- even if it feels like the same tweet!_ 
_Keep Consistency_ 

#Practice Make Better
#Happy Coding