A very thorough and informative piece - and one I found very relatable. While I haven't even attempted to get a job in webdev (or gamedev, before that), mostly doing both as a hobby - I too came in from a very different professional background (linguist, and not good at maths), and really took to the problem-solving nature of coding. It's impressive how committed you were, and how creatively you went about the learning process (re-telling things to your dog! brilliant). Also, great tips on some aspects of socializing/networking that I wouldn't even know where to begin with.