Code & Coffee

My journey to learn Ruby and Rails started almost one year ago.  I'm embarrased to admit, aside from a couple of lunch meetings, I've been traveling down this road on my own.  Being new to the language and community, plus the fact that I'm an introvert, I found it hard to get out and meet fellow programmers. 

Near the end of last year I decided to try and conquer my fear and looking back on it, I probably should have started with a smaller introduction to the Ruby community.  In November of last year I attended Ruby Conf 2013 in Miami, Florida.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed almost everything about my experience there.  But I felt so out of place.  I went by myself and had no clue on what to expect.

After my experience with Ruby Conf, I decided that I need to take a more gentle approach to entering the fabulous programming community.  I looked up RubyJax since I live in Jacksonville, FL.  I saw that they host many events - most at the Hash Rocket office at Jax Beach.  

So I've signed up for as many meet ups as I could, which include <em>"Code and Coffee."</em>  This was hard for me on a couple of levels.  First, I still feel inadequate as new member of the Ruby community.  Second, I work from home and am really not a morning person.  To get up at 6:15am so I have time to shower and drive to Jax Beach is a bit tough.  It was especially tough for me today, my second Code & Coffee, because I was not feeling 100%.  I enjoyed going last week but in my mind it was clear I was the new guy and I felt really dumb as I was surrounded by so many great programmers.

Then something happened.  At this second Code & Coffee, I wasn't the new guy anymore.  A new member showed up, I believe his name was Michael, and I was able to talk with him and give some advice based on my experience as a new person to the Ruby community.  I hadn't realized how far I have come in my journey.  Don't get me wrong, I still have far to go, but when that light bulb went off in my head, it really brightened my day.

Learn Something New Everyday

Last Edited by: John on December 29, 2015