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Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

joshternyak.com

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Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#31

Post by joshternyak »

andygcook wrote: post #16

OP, good for you learning how to code at a young age and for taking the time to share your lessons learned along the way. Don't get discouraged by the inevitable troll comments here. I'm sure you're already inspiring the next generation of young coders because your journey will be more relatable to them than a programmer with 15 years of professional experience. Thank you for taking a risk and posting here. Keep lear…

Thank you. I am actually encouraged and am using the "troll" comments as a way to get better and improve what and how I write on my blog.

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#33

Post by bachmeier »

joshternyak wrote: post #28
anw wrote: post #20

Hi Josh, thank you for sharing your experiences, and I'm glad to see the journey you've been on and the lessons you've learned. A lot of the lessons you're talking about come to those of us later in life (college, jobs, projects), so it will helpful to you later on when you run into these same situations and have a better understanding how to handle them compared to trying to figure it out/deal with it later. A few p…

Hi, I am glad my viewpoint is refreshing. I am also completely understanding and appreciative of the "harsh" feedback I am getting due to my misunderstanding of what I should actually write about and the way I do so. I will soon write a post talking about how I am transitioning into paid work and how since I'm not legally allowed to sign contracts, it's difficult.

> my misunderstanding of what I should actually write about and the way I do so

You don't need their permission. Write about what you want. If they don't like it, well, nobody's forcing them to read it.

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#34

Post by kipply »

devmunchies wrote: post #18

I wanted to see it from a 15 year old's perspective, not just some generic advice, especially given the title. Talk more about stuff that's unique to a teenage developer for more interesting content.

I was employed for SWE at 15 and worked at Shopify at 16 (legal working age in Canada is 14 for non-hazardous jobs). Here are some semi-serious thoughts;

1. Not being able to drink at company events :( Intern and team events are sometimes dinner, booze and music. My apple juice was pretty good, and if it when up the wrong pipe then I could get the burn too! (there was actually a time where I never experienced that and deliberately tried to to get a sugary beverage into my nose. Kids, right?)

2. Dodging the education question as long as possible. I once got past two interviews with Mozilla before they realized how old I was. If you tell them your age immediately, they stop taking you seriously. If you tell them after a few interviews it amplifies your interview performance.

3. Short summers. When I interned at Shopify, I only had two months. I did that twice, and that really shows today in my ability to ramp up on new jobs/projects.

4. Quietly laughing at how much money your friends think you make. My friends in high school estimated anywhere between 15 - 50 dollars per hour of income.

5. Constantly questioning whether you were a pity/charity hire. Didn't help that I'm also female. I think when I was hired at Shopify I may have been one of the poorest performing intern by whatever measure, but I ended up with a full-time offer in less than a year. Embrace and accept the brownie points you get just by being young!

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#35

Post by joshternyak »

dumbfounder wrote: post #17
jyfzbj wrote: post #12

Keep at it, build things you like, learn to love the process not just the results.

I like your first 2 pieces of advice, but hate your third. Build things that are useful, and do your best to make them things you like. Process be damned. And keep on keepin' on.

I will continue to work on making my content more relatable and better.

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#36

Post by joshternyak »

maxwelljoslyn wrote: post #5

Hi, Josh. You have a typo on the "Write For Us" page: "get our of" should be "get out of". A spellcheck against each page in your navigation bar did not turn up any misspellings -- though that wouldn't have caught "our/out." Best of luck out there. If you're this entrepreneurial at 15, your life is going to be just fine.

Hi, thank you for catching the typo. I will fix it right now. I'm just glad I enjoy doing what I do.

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#38

Post by s5300 »

empath75 wrote: post #11
darepublic wrote: post #7

I'm sorry but I just am a little incredulous that a 15 year old would be talking to me about burnout.. or about team conflict. Op have u worked a full time job with other devs and if so for how long?

Burnout for a 15 year old is when you’re tired of playing counterstrike and switch to overwatch for a little while.

It could also be a 15 year old who started suffering from a debilitating musculoskeletal chronic illness at age 11, without parents who gave the slightest shit about them and zero community support, still trying their hardest to get through the hardest classes their school offers and doing the shadiest shit they possibly can to make money to feed themselves as it's illegal to work at that age.

Broaden your horizons, Mr. "Empath"...

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#39

Post by cameronfraser »

empath75 wrote: post #11
darepublic wrote: post #7

I'm sorry but I just am a little incredulous that a 15 year old would be talking to me about burnout.. or about team conflict. Op have u worked a full time job with other devs and if so for how long?

Burnout for a 15 year old is when you’re tired of playing counterstrike and switch to overwatch for a little while.

Teenagers experience burnout all the time, this is not exclusive to adults. They have a ton of busy work thrown at them if they want to excel academically and the competition to get into good schools straight out of high school is a lot tougher than getting a good job or transferring into those schools. Clearly the OP has set a much higher bar for themselves as a teenager than most of us ever did. I think most of the comments here criticizing him are just people bitter they didn't have the grit to do it when they were the same age.

Re: Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

#40

Post by jamestimmins »

empath75 wrote: post #11
darepublic wrote: post #7

I'm sorry but I just am a little incredulous that a 15 year old would be talking to me about burnout.. or about team conflict. Op have u worked a full time job with other devs and if so for how long?

Burnout for a 15 year old is when you’re tired of playing counterstrike and switch to overwatch for a little while.

Considering the username, I'm surprised this comment felt necessary. The feelings and burnout of a 15 year old is just as legitimate as those of any adult.

It may be that the level of stress that will cause burnout is lower, but that should be expected for someone who is young and learning to cope with the challenges of work. Not all 15 year olds have the same lives or problems, and it's quite insulting to trivialize OP's experiences based on your own assumptions.

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