![Cover image for [On-Demand Talk] Redefining Your Programming Purpose](https://community.codenewbie.org/images/3Fh-AXalmR00UeX-JUC0_sq63ezdX_RV0yZ0QgETAG4/rs:fill:1000:420/g:sm/mb:500000/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb21t/dW5pdHkuY29kZW5l/d2JpZS5vcmcvcmVt/b3RlaW1hZ2VzL3Vw/bG9hZHMvYXJ0aWNs/ZXMvZjBqdGxvamUw/NnI1aGI2dHVzbjMu/cG5n)
About this talk
I'm ancient in tech years - many would've given up. There are those who are just starting and discovering what they want is not where they need to be. I pride myself on being candid - not only with myself, but also with others. So, speaking about how/why I believed I failed instead of initially embracing something I genuinely liked doing? I felt it was something I needed to do.
Adjacency really isn't an easy pill to swallow...until you realize that pill makes you feel complete. Not landing in software engineering weighed heavily on me and contributed to an unhealthy mindset. My goal for this talk is to help solve the issue of engineers or coders who feel as though they've failed because they aren't doing EXACTLY what they set out to do.
Talk Recording
Slides
🌈 Comment below and ask me questions — I might just answer them during my live speaker discussion!
About me
Hi! I'm Tracy P Holmes. I consider myself a "Jackie of All Trades" and a mistress of being myself. I work as a Technical Community Advocate at Isovalent where I focus on sharing my love of Cilium, eBPF, and Anxiety Driven Development. When I'm not leveling up my programming skills or helping others have "lightbulb" moments, I like baking, hanging with my pup, and learning something new to help me along my career. I'm active in the open source community and believe that open source is like gardening — pay attention to your conditions, and water only when needed.
This on-demand talk is part of CodeLand 2022 — a virtual conference brought to you by CodeNewbie & DEV on June 16 & 17, 2022.
Oldest comments (49)
I love the slide design! So excited to hear this! :]
Very inspiring story! Thank you for the presentation!
which languages should learn first ma'am for games development,pls reply...
Unfortunately, games development is not my realm of expertise. I can almost guarantee I'll point you in the wrong direction. You can absolutely ask on Twitter or in a group you may be a member of? I'm sure people have a lot of recommendations for you!
"Use the crap you go through as fertilizer...to grow something beautiful." - Tracy P Holmes
Short but nice and helpful, thank you :)
I've only heard of the role "developer advocate" a couple of times and haven't done too much research into it, but what would you say are some of the best parts of your role?
I think I answered this live. Did I answer your question pretty well?
Hi there Tracy,
Yes, you did answer it live and very well!
I appreciate the feedback :)
I relate to your insatiable thirst for knowledge and not knowing how to narrow down your interests so you can focus and make progress. Thank you so much for your presentation 😊
How did that mentor of yours help you not hate Python as much?? Asking for a friend 😂
😅 I pretty much just QUIT it for a while. That particular person (if I'm thinking of the correct thing) actually RAN a Python group for a while, so had things broken down into manageable pieces with actual written tutorials. Which works better for me than videos any day of the week!
Thank you, Tracy!
No questions, just a big thanks for sharing your story!
Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
Tracy your talk was so heartfelt, thank you!
Thank you for the presentation! You have a wonderful way of telling stories.
Ah shucks, thank you for that!
This was an amazing presentation! The gem you left us with, "if it doesn't exist, create it", is just what I needed to hear today. Thank you!
When would you feel it appropriate to jump into an open source project?
I am BIG on saying "Documentation Counts". I can guarantee the open source project has something missing in the documentation. You can def start there at any point. Or even checking out the "good first issues" the project may have. The other thing is if the project is something you use and you think of a feature or see a bug...submit those issues! I won't say go whole hog on nothing but grammatical errors and misspelled words, but def count those small wins. Seeing something small get accepted or merged is a great bump to the "I did that!!" part of your brain.