This Valentine’s Day Week Was Different

The past few years I have worked in the floral industry and the week leading up to Valentine’s Day is filled with long shifts, de-thorning roses until your hands are raw, a lot of physical labour, and an overabundance of guiding lost souls to find the right flowers for their loved ones.

This year, it was different.  It was my fourth week at HackerYou, which meant the beginning of JavaScript & jQuery.  There is a lot of unsteady footing and second guessing and a ton of new syntax for me wrap my brain around.  It still hasn’t sunk in.  With time and more practice, though – I’m hopeful I’ll have a better grasp.

Nonetheless, I clocked in a lot of extra time.  I asked for help.  I went in early.  I stayed late.  I read reference material on my transit journeys in-between.  I asked for more help.  I dreamt about parenthesis, dollar signs, brackets and semi-colons.

This week, I spent 10-12 hour days focused on learning and adding to my skill set.  I got to spend it surrounded by my supportive cohort and instructors at HackerYou.  I got lost in the code, determined to find solutions.

In past years my Valentine’s Day weeks have been spent supporting others and exhausting myself to no reward, but not this year.  This year was for me and it was really nice.