Hey Jane!
So happy you could make it today!
A 1)
If I had the opportunity, I would have started sooner. I wish I understood how powerful and amazing coding was when it first made it's way into my life. I was 17 when I discovered basic CSS layouts on Tumblr, and if it was more mainstream to encourage teens to do web developement for a job 10 years ago, I would have been a developer today with 10 years of experience! Even in 2018, when it first sparked my interest. I would have loved to dive in right then and there, but financially it wasn't an option. I'm still a believer of "everything happens for a reason", and I'm happy to be here today! :)
A 2)
The thing is, I got a LOT of advice. I think what's more important is how to ACCEPT that advice, because I wasn't truly accepting or believing the advice. For example: I was told that "it's okay to hold on to this information, to not understand it, but come back to it later down the line". My feelings for that advice was "but I want to understand this NOW!!!". This was 2 or 3 months ago, but now I understand. I understand that it's okay if you don't understand something right away because not everyone does. And now I believe it, because I see it from senior devs, to the same jr devs who are in my cohort. We're all trying to learn and better ourselves everyday, and it's something we need to believe. Another bit of advice I wish I would have believed is that "you will make it". One way or another, hearing the same advice of "if I can do it, you can do it" started to make me upset. I didn't see how I would make it when I was struggling to grasp basic concepts that my other cohortmates seemed to understand instantly. But the thing is, it doesn't matter if everyone else gets a job before me. In between that time, I'm learning, I'm networking, I'm studying, and I'm doing projects. This is how I will make it, and all it takes is patience for myself as a junior.
A 3)
I recently made a blog post for newbie resources that I would highly recommend to anyone just starting! Heres the link: medium.com/@rojhanpaydar/5-web-developer-resource…
I hope this was of help to you! If you have more questions for me, let's talk on Twitter! See you there Jane! :)