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Overcoming Imposter Syndrome In Coding: Don’t Quit Before The ‘Aha!’ Moment

March 16, 2016 | Posted at 12:11 pm | by People of Color In Tech (Follow User)

Photo Credit: (Image courtesy of People of Color In Tech)

I started programming 10 years ago this fall, and in many ways it’s shaped who I am today. But my future could have been totally different: I almost quit before I even started.

My introduction to programming was a large “Intro to engineering” class of 200 undergrads at the University of Michigan. For the longest time, I thought I was the only one in my class who didn’t fully get it. I was so close to concluding that coding just wasn’t right for me.

I’m so glad my 19-year-old self stuck with it, but I’ll always remember how tough those early years were for me. It’s taken me a long time to realize that the feeling I had then is something almost everyone experiences when learning to code.

Why do so many people find it tough when learning to code, and what can you do to push through when you’re just starting out? I’d love to dig into these questions and share some of what I’ve learned.

There’s a literal learning curve to coding

The toughest challenge for me in those early programming classes wasn’t learning new concepts. It was the feeling that I was moving much slower than my peers sitting next to me.

I remember that sinking feeling of falling behind on simple early assignments — at my lowest point, I even had to resort to copying off of others in order to pass the class. This was the first time in my life I wasn’t good at something, and I was ready to conclude this wasn’t for me.

What I didn’t understand at the time was that there is a literal learning curve to programming, and everyone hits their “aha!” moment, the inflection point, at a different time.