Why Websites?
I’ve always enjoyed design, and I grew up interested in computers. That said, I stumbled into website building totally by accident. I stick with it because of its ever-evolving state.
👦🏻 How I Got Into Websites
When I was about 7, I was playing around on the family computer and stumbled on a program I had never heard of. It kind of looked like Microsoft Word, except that I could add buttons, checkboxes, and other things. This ended up being how I made my first website:
It was drag-and-drop, kind of like some website builder sites today. As I kept playing around, I figured out that I was adding HTML to the page, which told the page what text and buttons to show and do.
However, mine did nothing. That was my first goal: to get those buttons to do something. With help from the internet (and a library book), I got them to . I thought it was fun to figure things like that out, so I kept learning as a hobby.
🎓 What Helped in Middle and High School
These subjects from middle and high school really propelled me forward. Looking back, they were also the ones I found most interesting:
Math, algebra, geometry
In order to get designs correctly laid out and interactive parts to function, it was critical that I knew this stuff first. As designs get more and more interesting, they’re also getting more complex… especially if you go on to create browser games and visual tools.
Laboratory science classes
Science is all about conducting experiments and making hypotheses. That’s what I do all day: I ask myself, “Will this work?” and then I try it out or Google some solutions I’m thinking of. If you enjoy thinking critically, you’d probably enjoy website design!
Language arts
Knowing how to communicate gets you far in the job world and makes work way more fun. Plus, these are the classes where you can get more creative with projects—talk to your teachers and see if you can incorporate your budding website design skills into your homework.