###Girl Develop It Code + Coffee, 4/12

I went to a Girl Develop It Code + Coffee at Durham Co-op. Going into the event, I was a little nervous, because I didn’t know exactly what to expect, in terms of the people who would be there and what the event would be like. I brought my laptop, in case it turned out to be more working than socializing. It turned out to just be five women sitting at a table outside, eating snacks, and chatting. I had a great time! It was interesting to see what a variety of women the event attracted: the woman who organized it is a former graphic designer, who is back in school learning advanced Java. There was another woman who also used to be a graphic designer, but is a self-taught coder who does freelance web development work. There was another woman who used to be a project manager for a software development team, though she recently changed jobs. And then there was a woman who was interested in learning more about the classes offered by Girl Develop It. We talked about all kinds of things, related and not related to coding: the “imposter syndrome”, how to pick up new programmings languages, gendered Legos, installing cable, how to connect with other people who might have projects in the Triangle area. I think the most helpful thing for me was to listen to these women, who get paid to code, talking about how they still feel like they’re imposters and totally making it up as they go along. That was really reassuring to hear – there are times when I’ve had to do things for class and work, and I’m terrified the whole time that I don’t have the knowledge that I’m supposed to have and that I’ll be found out. I think it’s a great thing to talk about in the community, especially if it’s a common feeling. I’m definitely going to try to go to more Code + Coffees in the future.

###Triangle Hacker Hours, 4/24

This one was a bit of a fail, but it ended up working out. James and Natalia and I showed up at Francesca’s in Durham for this event, and we didn’t really see a group that seemed to be coding together or anything. So the three of us just found a table and worked on our projects, for about 4.5 hours. We all ended up being really productive – we were able to ask each other questions and problem solve together. And then, a couple hours into us working and talking about Python, a guy at a nearby table turned over and asked “What coding project are you guys working on?” It turned out that the three people talking at the table next to us the whole time were part of the meetup we were looking for! So we chatted with that guy a little bit, which was great – he’s a Python programmer who was currently working on a JavaScript project. He was very willing to offer advice and guidance on our projects. It was the polar opposite of my other meetup, but ultimately more productive, which is great because our project is due this week!