My first study slump

When you have established that you would want to pursue a career in data management and every article recommends that you have to learn Python, MySQL, and Tableau, they forget to include how discouraging the learning becomes. With Python, the basics are endless and became frustrating when I had to go through a 500-page book just to write the most simple scripts. MySQL has one of the most intimidating interfaces I have encountered and Tableu only allows free trials for students. 

A few months after committing to daily coding,  I had a brilliant idea to develop a facility management plug-in for ArchiCAD but in order to do that I need to master 4 or 5 other BIM software in addition to the coding languages that are required to write the program. If you even attempt to make a job search you quickly discover that Junior Data Management/Analyst roles require at least 2 years of experience in the field. The cards are on the table; you're too inexperienced to be hired, too unknowledgeable to create a program, and too slow to master a language. 

Learning to program can be devastating and the process can be painfully slow. My only consolation has been meeting many women, mostly from Women Who Code events, who have successfully transitioned to a tech role from non-tech careers and are not shy to speak about the challenges they faced in their entry roles. 

In the pits of despair, there is no amount of encouragement that can lift the dark cloud, you almost have to wait it out, which could be a day, a week, or months. I recently found a study partner who took 6 months off their learning journey to catch a breath and I struggled, until I found myself in a similar position, to understand why they would hinder their progress by taking such a long break. 

The ill feelings from the disappointments can quickly spread to other parts of your life and the break neutralizes that, literally putting a gap that stops the fire from ripping your world apart. Learning is hard and I wish there more articles on how to overcome the slump. 

Writing about my coding journey is the most crucial silver lining, reminding myself and others that the courage to go on does wear off and that's absolutely normal, and taking a break is not synonymous with quitting. Once I publish this I will head back to the DIictionries function and retake my Codewars tests and perhaps attempt one Coursera-graded quiz. Will I have the energy to do it all over again tomorrow? Probably yes and possibly not. However, I will move with the pace that works for me, even when it means leaving all communities and deactivating the newsletters about the Tableu conferences to regain my calm and sanity.