I am not starting this journey into diving head-first into a DECODEING Degree. I am going to get caught up in website development first.
As you can read on my Web Development page, there is a reason why I am pursuing to get certificates in skills I already have a degree for. I have a real Associate’s degree in Multimedia with a concentration in Web Development. But, I graduated in 2014. Being in a rapidly-advancing, tech field means that I constantly have to keep learning to keep up with the new techniques in web development.
Since I’ve been really into business for the last two years, I have fallen a bit behind in this area. So, the first leg of my online education involves catching up with the new technologies. The best way to do this is through certificates!
My certificate will be issued through FreeCodeCamp. They have an amazing, free curriculum that is easy to follow.
To supplement this course, which involves heavy JavaScript, I will be reading and following along with this free JavaScript textbook.
Since I already know most of the material and I have already completed half of this course already last year, I predict this will take me 41 days.
My deadline for this certificate is before the New Year.
/***** KEEP UP WITH MY LEARNING WITH THE POSTS BELOW *****/
Here are all my posts on what I did to complete this certificate. The posts below contain my notes, my thoughts, and my projects on the subject. I laid this out so anyone can learn along with me!
Week 1: Getting a Refresher in Eloquent JavaScript
Today is November 1st, and I told myself a few months ago that I would go back to school this November. I had an amazing plan drawn out to get my Bachelor’s degree in Business from Excelsior College. It would be amazing because it would’ve been $5,000 and I would’ve gotten it by self-studying in 8 months.
AMAZING, right?!? Only, I couldn’t sleep on my decision. After spending a whole weekend planning out every single class, mapping out every single expense and matching up requirements, I decided that I didn’t really want a traditional degree.
But yet, I always wanted one and I longed for it (an internal struggle). I have an Associate’s degree. It has gotten me very far and has provided me with enormous benefits, but I have an endless thirst for knowledge. This means that I wasn’t satisfied with just an Associate’s degree.
So, since I really want the knowledge of a Bachelor’s degree but don’t really want a traditional degree because higher education sucks, and I am already maxed out in student loans than what I could care for, I decided to give up my DIY degree. Instead, I am getting a DECODEING Degree.
Why DECODEING? Because I am decoding traditional colleges into a free and manageable form. Plus, I love to code, so the name was fitting.
I am taking free, online resources and putting together a mock Bachelor’s degree. So, I’ll get the same, exact knowledge without the debt, without a piece of paper and without a traditional structure. My mock degree will be completely free, and I will be able to “go to class” anywhere in the world since it’s all online. I will be able to completely learn on my own at my own pace, so I’ll be able to go as slow or fast as I am comfortable with.
This is something I have always wanted to do. I have been taking MOOCs since 2010, and I have always wanted to get a Bachelor’s degree worth of knowledge for free online when I discovered Saylor.org in 2014.
You don’t need a degree these days. Especially in the tech field when employers just don’t give a shit about them. So, why are we spending $20,000+ for them?
Well, I refuse to. So, today marks the day of my online education into a couple of mock degrees.
Oh, I forgot to mention that since the internet is so vast and I have the privilege to have access to a world of endless knowledge, I am not stopping at one mock degree. I am getting three of them. I have always been in love with Computer Science, and these last two years I have fallen in love with Business. So, I want both of those. And since I can get any knowledge I desire, I will also be getting a mock MBA as well.
An MBA? “No way,” you say? Yes. Laurie at No-Pay MBA has done it, so why can’t I?
So, this is my crazy plan. I cannot wait to get started! You can get all the information about my curriculum and degrees on my What I Am Learning page.
My next post will be about what I am starting first. I hope you find this interesting, and I hope you follow along. I can’t wait to get started!
