Ciralism Themes

Caroline, 1997. Dorky undergrad, #GirlWhoCodes, and aesthetic nerd. Sometimes I combine these things to make Tumblr themes. Slightly obsessed with beauty products.

[ciralism]

whoa you really outdid yourself with the thunderstorm theme its impressive

Thank you so much, this is so sweet :) 

[yearn-for-timelessness]

semptember 18, 2017 ≈ I have great news! In the pictures you can see a sneak peak of my new room because I finally moved to Milan! I am over the moon, it’s great to finally be independent and start a new chapter!

What’s more, university is starting tomorrow and I couldn’t be more excited. I wanna have a great time and I cannot wait to fill my time again, summer is always way too boring for me, makes me a bit melancholic you know… I hope your life is treating you all as nicely as mine!

[ciralism]

!!!!!!!!!I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, it's been like two years since I've been able to bookmark you again HELLO

Aww thank you! Hi!

[ciralism]

Hi Caroline! I can't believe I only just found your themes. They're gorgeous! I'm having a little trouble with Love Letters, though. A box that says nothing is here shows up instead of the ask box.

You need to put your username into the ask box script, instructions are commented in the code!

[motivatemycollegelife]

Why did you start? With what purpose you get out of bed every morning?

[notyourpepperoni]

things i tell myself

[studylustre]

recent snaps from my ig ft. pictures from my trip to seoul~ they rly have the most aesthetically pleasing, delicious cafes there

ig: studylustre

[dielises]

01.30.2017 // Now it’s all done it’s time to put a little elbow grease into making this mid-year exam session useful!

[ciralism]

hello! the font on your blog theme is really pretty. is it okay to ask what font it is? thanks!

I used Open Sans, Work Sans, and Muli -- all free google fonts!

[ciralism]

this isn't a question.. i just wanted to say that i love thunderstorm so much! <3

Thank you so much, that’s so kind! 

[ciralism]

heyyy i just wanted to drop by to tell you that i absolutely adore your themes! they are so pretty and neat and easy to navigate and you can actually READ the posts and everything -- & i am just in love with them. thank you soso much for all your work! i wish you a lovely day! ♥

Aww thank you so much! This is really sweet ♥

[halosydnes]

White Lilac 15/05/2016

[lumstudies]

[ciralism]

Hello! I hope this isn't a burden but I'm actually a student this year at GWC SIP. I entered the program with barely any background in CS and while I've learned a LOT I feel like an imposter in a class filled with well versed and VeRy talented girls. With the final weeks approaching + the final project I'm worried that I'll be a hindrance to my group. As a teacher at GWC do you have any advice that may put my CS stressed heart at ease? Thank you in advance! 👩‍💻

Not a burden at all! This is something that I think everyone encounters at some point in their CS career. Personally, I took an elective last semester (as a freshman having just completed the intro class) that was open to CS majors of all levels, and was almost entirely comprised of older, more experienced students. The class culminated in a group project, and I was definitely the least experienced person on my team by far. At times, I definitely felt like I was struggling to keep up, and I worried about holding my team back, but in the end, I made a meaningful contribution to a great project, and I learned a ton from my team members. I think it helps to think about specific skills that you DO bring to the table, rather than focusing on what other people are better at, and also to look at it as an opportunity to learn from your peers! For instance, because I had some background in web design, I handled the UI myself, and I helped one of the other students in my group put together the backend for our application and learned a ton from him in the process. 

You will not hold your group back! If your class is anything like mine, every student has a unique set of strengths and skills that they bring to the table. Instead of thinking about where you fall short, think about where you’ve been particularly strong. Approach the project with confidence and know that you will absolutely have something important to contribute!

And for the record, feeling like you’ve learned a ton but are still behind other students is normal, and in my mind, a sign of remarkable accomplishment. Generally the notion that everyone else is learning faster is not accurate, but to me this shows that you are proud of what you’ve achieved, you have the perspective to see how much you’ve grown, and you know there is still room to learn. That is amazing, and I hope that’s where my girls are at the end of SIP :) 

I would be happy to talk to you more about this (or to other new CS students who are struggling with similar feelings) any time!

[ciralism]

do I have to be good in math to do CS in college?

Not necessarily! I never considered myself strong in math by any means, and I love being a CS student. That’s not to say that the two subjects/skillsets are completely unrelated, but as long as you’re willing to put the work in, you can definitely study CS and be very successful even if you don’t consider yourself good at math.

[ciralism]

Hi there! I love your cambriolage theme, but when I install it, even on a new blog, it doesn't have the correct font (or at least the font in the preview photo)? Is there a reason for this, or a way to fix it? Thank you in advance!

Where are you using the theme? I’d be happy to take a look -- generally though, special fonts don’t load in the preview screen, so you need to actually save the code and open your blog in order to see what it would look like!

[ciralism]

Teaching: Day 1

After a week of prep and on-campus set-up, today I finally got to meet my class of Girls Who Code! Last week I wanted to tell you that they were all inspirational, tenacious, enthusiastic learners and that Day 1 went off without a hitch, but the delightfully flawed truth of our first day makes me even more hopeful for an amazing summer with this perfectly imperfect group.

20 determined, resilient, capable young women joined my class today, and it is my job and my privilege to guide them to channel that passion into coding. I’m no expert in CS, but as an undergraduate student, I like to think I am earning my expert badge in the art of learning computer science. 

I loved my APCS teacher and learned a ton in that class, and I will always be grateful that I had the opportunity to be introduced to CS as a high school student. However, because of the pace and breadth of the AP curriculum and the introductory nature of the class, my teacher was always quick to swoop in with guidance and explanations. When he wouldn’t answer my questions, typically my (brilliant) best friend could. And so I went to college with only that background in computer science - the subconscious assumption that when I struggled, someone would be there to explain, correct, and walk me through the “right” thought process.

I have spent my entire freshman year fighting and rewiring that instinct to reach for assistance when I cannot immediately solve the problem myself. I have spent this year learning to learn on my own, to seek out answers individually, to design and plan and build larger programs thoughtfully, and to solve problems not by having a TA walk me through them, but by bouncing ideas off my equally confused peers. 

This is what I hope to offer my girls this summer. A space and an opportunity to learn how to learn computer science; an introduction to the world of tech coupled with the affirmation that they belong there; and a love of learning, exploring, playing, failing, innovating, and creating that they can carry forward to whatever careers await them.

I saw school as an obligation until I got to college. Now, I choose to be here, and I study things I love. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a university student, to take several years just to focus on my education and personal growth, and to explore my passions. My girls are taking their summer to dedicate time to their education and personal growth and pursue their passions, and it doesn’t matter if they take time to get comfortable in class, or if we have to remind them to put their phones away, or even if they don’t always want to keep trying: they choose to be here, learning, and for that, they are amazing. Part of me hoped for a classroom full of eager, bright-eyed, obedient students who would follow every instruction and pursue every project at 110%. The class I met today was so, so much better: they were excited, grateful, rambunctious, tenacious, sleepy, nervous, silly, and brilliant. They were interested in things I love, and in things I know nothing about. I can’t wait to see what they can do.

If you’re a girl/woman in tech or interested in CS, reach out to me! I would love to use this platform to help the next generation of young women discover CS. Girls Who Code’s summer program is phenomenal, but the truth is, you don’t need to be part of a 7 week intensive in order to get started in CS, or become a girl who codes. You just need a lot of determination, a bit of willingness to fail, and a little silliness, to make something great.

[twaeioush-deactivated20170905]

I would really love to be involved in this. It’s sad that they only have this program in the United States ㅠㅠ

[ciralism]

It’s an amazing program and something I’m thrilled to be a part of, but this is a really intense way to expose yourself to CS -- no matter where you live, there are SO many things you can do to start learning. And I would even say that starting to code is barely half of what you can do. Yes, definitely try codeacademy and google’s developer training and play with the hundreds of thousands of resources available online, and you will see progress. 

But to really try to replicate the experience that GWC students are having this summer, I would really recommend that you immerse yourself in the tech world as much as possible! Learn about different tech careers -- research the possibilities in design, product, engineering, data science, marketing, etc. -- join facebook groups and online communities to network and learn from current women in tech. They have so much to offer, and they are almost always very willing to help!

If you want to learn more about getting started on your own in web development (I self-taught for a couple of years before I ever took a CS class) or about studying CS in college, please reach out to me, I would love to be a resource for other women in technology. And finally, take advantage of the technology that you do have available. Tweet at people whose work inspires you. Read books and articles, and then read some more. Work through tricky problems (like these common interview questions), and use the resources that you do have to understand and grow as a programmer. Starting out in CS, you are very, very unlikely to encounter a problem or bug no one has ever seen before: if you’re struggling with it, chances are, someone on stack overflow has already answered it. 

Good luck and happy coding!