My Learning Summer

Well, summer is here at last. And now that I'm FINALLY out of school for good after nearly 9 years, I can actually relax this summer - well, as much as my work schedule will allow, anyway.

But as much as I will be trying to relax this summer - lounge at home, go to the beach, etc - this is also going to be a learning summer. Now that I've completed my Web Development and Design certificate (unless I have issues with my grades, I should be able to get it no problem), I want to start looking for work. But I know I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of code and stuff if I want to be a web designer. Not to mention my writing career has been sadly neglected since last summer.

So I'm delaying the job search till fall, and this is going to be a learning summer. I might even keep a physical record of it, like those scrapbooks my mom had my brother and I keep one summer. Maybe a journal or diary? I'm definitely going to be taking notes at least. Maybe I'll document it here and/or on my Tumblr.

How am I going to learn? Well, first off, I'm going to finally start that Code Year thing I signed up for so I could learn JavaScript. Then there are the many blogs on the subject, particularly the e-zine Smashing Magazine. Lynda.com has a lot of good tutorials also. There are also the certificates from W3 Schools, but they're kinda pricey at $95 apiece (by comparison, W3 Schools' regular tutorials are all free), though it might be a worthwhile investment to get at least the HTML and CSS ones, and maybe the PHP one too, if for no other reason then to put them on my résumé.

Besides these specific ones, I will definitely make use of the free podcasts on iTunes, and especially the large catalog of courses (all free) available on iTunes U. Plus, I'm sure there's a crudload of other sites, including the huge list of ones I have in my 2 OneNote notebooks of design resources. So I'll find ways to learn.

Other than design, I hope I can learn other stuff this summer. Learning to drive is kind of a priority. Maybe I can get my parents to finally teach me (especially if I can't afford the MiraCosta course again).

Let's hope this summer is a success!

Originally posted via Blogger for iPhone, edited on desktop Blogger