Yesterday I attended the third meeting of the group I started on Meetup for learning Ruby. I am really enjoying watching the group form and change, and I keep being struck with what a great idea Meetup is. When I first arrived at the library meeting room I had reserved (did you know you could do this for free at any DC Public Library? Just go here.), I was sitting there alone for the first 15 minutes. I felt a little embarrassed, and had to keep reminding myself that someone would show up, and also that no one cared if I was there all alone. Slowly people trickled in, and we wound up with five people, of whom I was the only girl.
It was nice that a couple were familiar faces, and I met new people too. I like hearing everyone's stories, though I have to admit, I feel shy about telling working developers about my plans to go to a bootcamp. So many developers are self-taught that I feel like a fraud going off to a camp. However, I know that this fits my learning style better and I am grateful that I have the resources and time to do this. Plus, I seem to be the only person judging myself for this, as most people ask me for more information about it to give to someone else in their life who wants to be a developer.
Anyways, we decided on a format to follow for the meetings, in which we would read books together and then discuss them each week. I made a conscious decision to let go of control of the group, because it's not about me, but about learning Ruby. I even allowed others to be organizers on Meetup! I think this is something being a social worker has taught me: how to let go of control of my creations and visions. I highly recommend starting or joining a Meetup group to anyone looking to enter a new field or community. All the Meetups I have attended have been very useful to me.
My biggest problem has become over-committing myself to events--I was supposed to go to one today but was too exhausted after running around all day yesterday. Instead I read old Superman comics on my computer and marveled at how I could access them with a short torrent download, when my dad (it's Father's Day after all) would have had to wait each week for a new one to be published then read each in a paper copy. I love technology. Happy Father's Day!
After writing this, I thought I should also relate a short anecdote from this meeting. While we were all talking, a man walked into the room. His tone was confrontational and my mental health instincts were on edge. He started asking about our group in a strange way, and it became clear he was drunk. I chose not to engage, because I didn't want to play social worker in my personal life and left it up to the others to handle it. One of the other members diverted him by pretending we had another meeting the next Sunday. The man told us the library wasn't open on Sundays and left the room, only to come back saying the fronk desk worker had confirmed this! The group member talking to him just reiterated that we were meeting next Sunday. He asked this man if he had a computer and the man replied "No, but I have a guitar...it's basically the same skill, right?"
No comments:
Post a Comment