A little over a year ago, I was a relatively new developer. I was really enthusiastic and passionate about improving my coding skills, especially in the areas of web and mobile development. Even though I was in school for Computer Science, the curriculum doesn’t exactly teach you how to develop real life applications. All we learn about are data structures and algorithms. LOTS OF THEM.

I was 100% sure that I will not go to graduate school (at least, not in the next few years), and as much as I enjoyed learning about data structures, I didn’t feel like I was well-prepared for a job. So, as a “passionate self-learner” *cough cough*, I started researching about online courses. One of them was Udacity.

After browsing through their many courses and certification programs, called “Nanodegrees”, I noticed the Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree. I was immediately intrigued. The program’s curriculum seemed promising and it was co-created by great companies - AT&T, Github, Amazon, and Google! It was the perfect opportunity for me to improve my skills, and so I registered for a free trial that same week.

During that free trial, my impressions of the courses were generally positive. It was definitely a different experience from the traditional classroom setting, but I enjoyed the combination of videos, slides, quizzes, and projects all throughout. They even had code reviews from experienced software developers.

Long story short, it was an invaluable experience that was well worth my time, energy, and money. Just having that Nanodegree under my belt has given me a great advantage over my peers and it was certainly a conversation starter during interviews.

This week, Udacity is having their first ever Discovery Week! I got extremely excited. I’ve been wanting to register for another Nanodegree but it was just too pricey for my college student budget. Though now, everything is up to 50% off! Perfect!

I’ve signed up for the React Developer Nanodegree. I’ve been working with React for a couple of years now, but I feel very lacking in fundamentals. When I first learned React and Redux (also React-Native), I was just thrown in the project and had to learn it fast. I only learned enough to get by and meet my deadlines. My hope is to relearn it the proper way this time and to solidify my React skills. I plan to document my journey through each lesson and project, so stay tuned!