My motivation is high and my purpose is getting much more clear.

First off, I want to say hello to the community and I feel there is something special about this place. I intend on connecting with people that share similar motivations and passions while also helping others when I can.

About 12 months ago, I decided to install LFS (Linux From Scratch), it was a bit out of my league so I ended up manually installing Arch Linux. Being my first Linux experience, I felt it was best to just delete the Windows OS and jump in feet first. I spent so many hours a day for almost an entire week, figuring out how to install all of the components manually. Arch Linux is not for newbies, but I was one. I preferred this approach. It must have worked because a year later I am typing this on my laptop with Arch Linux and still do not use Windows, nor feel I need to. During this time I also spent time using the CLI (Command Line Interface) and not using GUI's. Using tools like SED and AWK were so amazing to me. I just wanted to call a friend and talk about it, but I really did not know many Linux people or even programmers. I just kept on learning about Linux to a point where I am very comfortable on a Linux OS and even in the CLI.

A bit after getting Linux to work, I decided to learn HTML and CSS. I started by taking a few Udemy Courses and watching some Youtube vids. I copied my girlfriends website (she used Weebly) and made it look and act the same way, though with MUCH less code (because it wasnt a template). Happy about that, I started learning more and started with PHP.

PHP and the database was a game changer for me. Something about dynamic web pages that thrilled me. So I purchased a few more courses and built a this website using HTML and CSS (bootstrap) and then converted it to a wordpress theme and made it dynamic. I have to be honest, as I started doing more courses in PHP, I started getting frustrated and the code did not look pretty to me (I know... I guess I am a very visual person). It also was hard to make sense. I decided to look for a mentor and learn how to do this coding thing. PHP seemed sloppy and I felt I was going to go crazy tryng to code my site. I found someone online and asked them to mentor me, it was a paid relationship but it was nice. It lasted a short while, but what he did was ask me if I ever tried Python. I was deep in a project, and was worried about learning YET another tool, but I decided I would try it out. Game changer again...

Python was so clean and nice. I loved it. I was building a wine database for a restaurant and decided to completely redo it with Python using flask. So... I purchased more courses at Udemy. I find an amazing teacher and loved the way they tought, so I decided to ask for a mentorship. It was paid again, but this time I was so into it, I asked for 4 hours a week. He taught me a practicle angle using my project and I learned about databases and object oriented Python and used Flask to feed the HTTP Requests to the backend. This was an amazing time for me. I spent 3 months like this and he took a vacation and while he was gone I found Django. I loved Django so much, I bought courses again and redesigned the website in Django.

I have to say though, I also learned about VCS and it was a game changer... again. I fell in love with Git and use it on the CLI ALL-THE-TIME! This teacher was so great and it really helped me, but when he was gone, I started with Django and even when to Djangocon and met a lot of people. I had NO idea that I had any value in my abilities because I still felt like a Newb. I was wrong, it looks like if I want to bad enough, I can certainly find some work. That is my goal now.

I just recently finished a new course called Javascript - The Wird Parts, it brought me to, certainly, a advanced level of understanding JS. I loved the entire course. Something that I am figuring out now, is I like the weird parts. It is the deep level of understanding that I crave. I use vanilla Javascript instead of jQuery for mainly 1 reason: I want to understand. I did the same thing with Bootstrap, it was neat at first, but I want to know how the CSS really works. Is this ok? Is it ok that I take the long route and recreate the wheel? Personally, I like ot recreate the wheel, is this wrong?

For some reason in Python, I didn't really like importing packages. It was because I wanted to build the package myself. Why? Again, it is because of the deep learning that I care about. I have to find what it is I want to do. What can satisfy someone like me? It certainly isn't design a website, or just coding a basic app. It is deeper. But I saw something a couple days ago that may be a game changer again...

I saw this.. MarI/O. So maybe it is Data Science and Machine Learning. The problem is I am a High School educated person that has low levels of Math. I hardly learned Algebra 2 in school and it wasnt until outside of school that I started studying Algebra 2, Trig and Physics. I loved them all. I couldn't believe I didnt give a shit in school. Man.. what a waste of time... or is it? The truth is, I am not afraid that I need to learn this, in fact, I am excited to learn it. Today, I am 33 years old and I really have a strong will to learn. I also chose the things I like and study them. I can say that even though I may be far behind if others compare me, at least I am not stuck in a place I do not like.

I know I love mathematics, phisics, programming (deep understanding), Linux (and Linux Administration), Git and probably a lot more that I have not found yet. I am really hoping in a place like this, I get to find the people that have a similar drive. Possibly find out how to focus in the right path so that I can work in places that benifit me to move farther in the area I want to work.

I am very suprised that I wrote this much. It all just flowed out, maybe I just needed to say it. Maybe there are others like me.

I decided to travel before jumping into my career and have been out of the USA since Nov 5th 2016. Just 2 weeks ago I had my nice laptop mailed to me and here I am in Concepcion, Chile, studying again and loving it. It is time to make a personal website and that is my number one priority. I will build it here and look for remote work and see where that takes me.

Cheers everyone.