How old were you when you started learning how to code?

If you started when you were in your 20s, you would have more time and energy to learn new topics and get better at them, but if you started when you were in your 30s, you wouldn't have that much time to learn new topics, maybe because you did not have that energy when you were young or maybe because you had a family to take care of.

I do not know about you but I started learning how to code when I was in my 30s. I still had the energy and motivation to learn, but I was learning at a slow pace, with no direction, and there were not many online resources at that time.

How did I learn to code when I had two young children?

Fast forward when I was having my first two children. I stopped coding for 3 years and yes, I was missing coding a lot. I still had my goal of becoming a Software Engineer, which really helped motivate me to start coding again.

I was started reviewing HTML and CSS again when my second child was 1.5 years old and my first child was 2.5 years old.

How did I have time to study?

Well, I was lucky because my mom stayed with us for 6 months to help out with my older child so I could study when my second child took a nap. There was not much free time to study because my second child took 2 hours nap.

Other times I had free time when my kids went to bed. I studied from 9 am to midnight - or sometimes past midnight - but it was not a straightforward study because I had to spend time with my husband as well. So yes, it was a mother and wife's duty.

Find coder newbies in the online community.

You should not learn how to code alone, trust me because when you get stuck you will face a lot of code issues and will have to deal with the problem and you will not feel depressed or unmotivated. You need an online community to support you and more importantly. You learn how to code by building your own project. I was searching online for the coder newbie community and I found Chingu .

Chingu is the newbies' coder around the world who wants to build a project together as a team. I have had a couple of times to be a project manager by assigning a task to my team and learning how to use Agile management software. As a software engineer, a front-end web developer, or a back-end web developer, you need to be able to use Git and GitHub to make a pull request of the code that you made so your team lead can review it. I learned all of this when I joined Chingu.

Got a scholarship from Google

Almost a year after I joined Chingu. I was awarded a scholarship from Google to learn Front-End Web Development at Udacity. It was an online class where I learned how to coordinate remote classes with peers. There were 2 paths, the first path was fundamental to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I do not remember how many students were on this path but I knew that there were a lot and a lot of them that were not selected to move on to the second path but I was selected because I participated in all the classes and helped with other peers in the class.

Path 2, I learned more about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. To complete the course, I had to finish and pass all 5 projects. I was studying when my kids were taking a nap and went to sleep after 8:30 pm and I was studying until 2 am. I did this every day.

Got my first web developer contract job.

After I learned Front-End Web Development at Udacity for 5 months. I remembered it was in summer. The recruiter has found me on Linkedin and reached out to me about a web developer role for an automotive company. I accepted that offer to begin the hiring process. I passed the take-home assignment and passed the interview. They offered me a web developer position.

How did I prepare for the job interview?

To be honest, I felt I was not ready for a job but I did go ahead and complete an assignment. It took a couple of days to submit it. It was coded a semantic HTML with CSS and JavaScript and I was accepted for this round for an in-person interview. This round left me very stressed, I was prepared to read online job interview questions but it turned out this interview was a casual interview with some technical questions. I got this job offer with happy web developer work experience.

It was an onsite job. As a mother, I was worried to be away from my children while I was at work. I think some people had to put their kids in childcare but I did not want to do that so I asked my mother to fly in from Thailand to watch my children work out.

What happened after my first contract job.

After an onsite web developer job, I knew that I wanted a remote position because it fits my lifestyle as a mother, so I got another contract web developer job but this time was remote which was perfect for me. I was still working from home with my children - one went to school and one stayed home with me.

After this contract ended, I worked as a freelance and I got another contract.

What I have learned with my coding journey as a mother.

It took a lot of effort and I had learned to be good at time management, For instance, time with children, time with my husband, time with myself (code), and time to do the house chores. It was not easy but I believe you can do it. One thing that helps me keep going is my passion for code and my motivation if you have these 2 things, nothing can stop you.

Last words.

If you like my story please share it with your friends and your network. It might help other parents like us.