Learning in a Community: Joining HNG8 Internship
Building with accountability by joining a group
Why Join a Learning Community
To be great at anything, you need to do it consistently. However, it really hard to be consistent. At times while learning, we met challenging roadblocks, lose our focus, and at times get bored. There are so many things that I personally wanted to learn, started but didn't carry through because I lost the enthusiasm to continue. What was missing? Accountability!!!
Consistently makes us better but accountability keeps us consistent.
To be accountable, you need to have an accountability system. It is an intentional decision and it can be executed in so many ways, including:
- Having an accountability partner (your friend, a parent, a mentor or a spouse)
- Build in public (blog, post on social media, talk openly about what your doing)
- Keep a personal journal
- Join a community of like-minded individuals.
The decision I made is to join an intensive learning community by joining HNG8 internship organized by the Zuri Team with partnership with Ingressive For Good.
About HNG Internship
HNG Internships are held every year with multiple stages and host a community of mentors and learners who want to grow their skills in tech. There are paths in frontend development, backend development, design, digital marketing and just debuting this year, entrepreneurship. I joined the backend path because I want to boost my skills in Go web development.
There are task given every week and activities geared in making one improve from beginner to expert in the course of a few months. You get to work with really cool and creative people, and you can get assistance and advice from mentors and even more experience learners. Heck! If you find me there, I will even be willing to lend a helping hand because anyone is allowed to contribute without being shunned or insulted. Just make sure you don't break any rules when you do so.
Just remember to do you ask as at when do and contribute when you can. It is a super awesome way to acclimatize yourself to the world of work.
What do I aim to gain
Well I want to add value to myself. I want to learn Go (the language of the future). I also want to enjoy the community and gain new friends.
If you want to learn a tech skill here are some helpful links.
Design (UI/UX) you can learn
Figma: A graphics editor and prototyping tool creating look and feel of apps and websites Here is a beginners tutorial by Design Course on YouTube
Development you can learn
Git: A version control system that helps in collaboration and efficiently integrating code. Here is a tutorial by Traversy Media
Html: The skeleton of all websites and websites. Here is a tutorial by Mosh on YouTube
Go: Superfast programming language, with easy syntax and superpowers. Learn Go with FreecodeCamp
Python: Super-easy beginner friendly programming language used mostly for data science and automation. Here is a course by Mosh on Python
Remember to practice consistently and have an accountability system, it will make you go far. Above all, believe in yourself and nothing would too difficult to achieve.
Have a great one ๐