Category: Personal Reflections

Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection

Skill Acquisition

Carl Setzer

I was chatting with one of the baristas at my favorite local coffee shop earlier today. I like how she described her current, I guess I’d call it “focus”: the acquisition of skills. She’s gained barista skills, store manager skills, she’s now working on hair-dressing skills. There was far more to that, but you get the drift.

This describes much of my career life. I’ve loved learning, new skills, new business types, new business functions (you can see the range of work I’ve done over on my resume). I relish breadth of knowledge. However, I did get to a point where I wanted depth, to become an expert in something. Much of my mental effort over the past few years has been seeking that something.

As I love so much, and focus requires denying, saying “no”, this has been a painful challenge for me. But I’m making progress. I do have something of a focus now. Something.

When I started down this web-development path, I assumed that at the end I’d be good at making websites and, well, then I’d make websites. Oh, my goodness, no…it’s been far more than that. I’ve studied data systems, systems analysis and design, graphic design, programming, project managment…so many things, and I would argue I have explored databases and system analysis in more depth than I have HTML, CSS and JavaScript. So, even while refining my focus, my opportunities have expanded.

Back to my friend, and to anyone else out there in a similar place: there’s value in focus. Maybe, to start, just start compiling a list of what you want to study/learn. First, having a list is the first step in a plan. And having a written list makes it much more likely to happen. Also, you’ll start to see patterns. Within that will be the first inklings of a focus.

I’m working on the same. I’ve started journaling on paper again (I’m using a Leuchtturm 1917, if you’re interested). And that’s where I’m working on this sort of thing. Paper engages the brain differently, which I find important. It also slows me down (I type pretty darn fast). Right now, I’m focusing on the kinds of work I want to do. Do I want to code? Do I want to design? Do I want to dig into data? Manage projects? Figuring out these elements, I can then craft a plan to achieve them and build the next phase of my career.

Have you done anything like this? What do you think of this notion? Let me know!

My next steps

Carl Setzer

When I started this career transition, my vision seemed clear: at the end of this I’ll get a job managing websites. Well, my vision has evolved. This is standard in my life, at least. As I learn more, interact with people, expand my view, my understanding grows and new opportunities become visible.

I expected that I would come out knowing nearly everything about building and managing sites. The main thing I’ve learned is how little I know. There is so much left to learn. I expected to study html, Javascript and CSS far deeper, that I’d spend more than one quarter on each. I also didn’t expect the breadth I’d be exposed to. Things like the database theory and design classes, and the SQL classes I’m taking now. Nor did I think I’d dive deeper into project management, systems analysis and design, Visual Basic, or Amazon Web Services.

This range of classes opens up some career areas that I hadn’t considered. Analyst roles for one, data systems for another. Another area I see is project management. And there’s communications, with a focus on digital comms. So much to consider. And I want to launch my need stage of my career plan soon. So I have work to do.

Friends Who Introduce You To New Music Are The Most Important Ones

Carl Setzer
grayscale photo of printer paper with printed music life near headphones
Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’re probably aware I think highly of Wil Wheaton. If not, I have written about him a number of times. Well, today he penned another post that got my nostalgia going: “sweet and tender hooligan“. One element of this essay that really struck me was about a young woman, who is named “Kara”. First loves, when it’s love and not just lust, are powerful things in lives. And, as Wil’s, Kara holds the place well. In a beautifully written way, Mr. Wheaton shows how she expanded his world in so many rich, deep ways. The kind of person we all want in our lives and should strive to be in the lives of others. Anyway, give it a read: it’s well worth it.

I didn’t have a “Kara”, exactly. I had several elements, though. There was a girl when I was in high school, a senior when I was a sophomore, who was much the same for me. I didn’t have a crush on her but thought she was massively cool. Very goth, quite radical for my little suburb of Seattle. She didn’t shave her legs! Another alien notion to me at that point. Though not a one-on-one relationship, she invited me to hang out with her senior friends. This crew introduced me to Rocky Horror, and bands like Roxy Music, The Jam, The Clash…and that’s only what I remember. There had to be more, but sadly the brain cells holding those memories have evaporated. Up to this point in my life, I had limited musical exposure. Top 40, that’s it. And that mostly meant disco (though I’ve developed an appreciation now, it was not really my…um…favorite back then). These folks opened my eyes in ways that dramatically changed me, some in ways that I’m still working on understanding. And, for that, I’m grateful. Like Wil is to Kara.

The playlist below features a few songs that this post brought to mind. These are some key songs by some key bands. I hope you enjoy!

Another Career Transition Update

Carl Setzer

I’m currently studying web development. Here’s my post that explains the why, and this link will be show you the series of updates about my change.

My last coding focused class was in the spring, where I took PHP and JQuery, two key programming languages for creating websites. Over the summer I took Project Management, Math and Desktop Software support (when I mapped out my path, I had a few gaps and I thought studying hardware would be fun). With PHP, I got to do some work with MySQL databases. This quarter I’m whole hog into SQL, MySQL and Databases: I get to study database theory and design, along with a class specifically focused on SQL scripting! This might be my favorite part yet!

I really enjoy databases. That might actually be a better descriptor of my current study program. Yeah, lots of web site creation, but I’ve had several classes with database elements (an intro to Office, including Access, and then there’s PHP where we did MySQL API calls, and a few other elements). And now my two data systems classes. Drives home the point that Web 2.0 is, ultimately, about interacting with data.

For some reason, databases come naturally to me (I’m sure I just jinxed myself and the rest of the quarter I’ll struggle mightily with SQL syntax…knocking on some wood now). So far, each of the database classes have just felt straightforward, that the syntax is clear. Javascript, for instance, was considerably less so. I’m looking forward to this, even though I still feel like I’m drinking from the proverbial fire-hose.

As I’m slowly marching towards the end of this stage, I feel the need to plan my next steps. When I went into this, I expected to come out and become a Web Developer, whatever that really meant. Now, I see so many possibilities, so many directions, so many things I can do with this knowledge. And I see how much more I want to learn. I’m exploring these and will post more soon.

A Word Challenge Haiku: Insidious

Carl Setzer

I’m very fond of “Word Challenges”. Today I’m taking on Fandango’s One Word Challenge, and the word is “insidious“.

Morning Glory
Morning Glory
despite their beauty
these insidious flowers
destructively grow

Photo by Munro Studio on Unsplash