Today I graduated from Techie Youth! I am very grateful about this opportunity that I was presented with this summer! Throughout the Learn to E-Earn program, I learned a lot about the topics I was presented. This includes a wide variety, like web development, entrepreneurship, and many more!
Today I learned about coding and learned various languages. One language that I saw on the list that was familiar to me was Java, as I’m learning that in college! I for sure want to improve my skills in Java!
Today I browsed the extra credits curriculum and looked at Arbitrage. Arbitrage is essentially reselling. I see lots of stories regarding reselling, especially regarding sneakers, as it is a very profitable market. People buy sneakers for resale value, and price it higher, due to demand and hype.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is a branch of computer science that deals with computer systems. These systems are supposed to demonstrate characteristics that are similar to human intelligence. It is the practice of computer recognition, reasoning and action. It's interesting to note that this will be the future moving forward. For example, there are robots that are being created in order to replace certain tasks humans won't be able to, such as rescue tasks, transportation, and more.
Today, I learned how to create a website. I created it using Wix.com. Wix.com is a free website hosting platform that makes creating a site simple to use and is accessible. Editing and formatting is really understandable! I decided to create a blog post, detailing things about myself! It was very fun to create one, and makes me want do more with my coding!
Organizing Social Communities is difficult. It requires a lot of consistency, as well as being able to interact with your audience. That is what I think is key to a successful community. It's important to remember that it is, time consuming, and a large investment.
I learned about creating and organizing boards using Pinterest. Pinterest is a image sharing service where you can create pins and boards from niche topics and interests you partake in. This can include art, fashion, travel, and many more! I created an image board revolving around men's fashion, specifically sneakers and streetwear. I always like collecting sneakers that have a nice color palette. For example, I enjoy wearing Air Jordan 1s and 4s, as well as Yeezy 350s.
There are so many types of writing that I didn't even know about! For example, there's ghostwriting, which is a term used to describe being hired to write content for someone else. The person hiring you has copyright over your content. There is also technical writing, which is where you provide detailed descriptions and instructions.
Today I learned about recycling parts for other utilities, such as lamps. It's really interesting to think about, because I've seen videos where people making regular, everyday objects out of crazy things! It's funny, yet really cool to see at the same time! We can learn a lot about upcycling, as it encourages good habits such as recycling.
Today, I learned how to spend time writing an executive summary. Personally, I don't think I did a great job, I think I should've been more detailed regarding about how to fix the problems that other companies have. My business summary was about trying to create accessibility for custom controllers, specifically for the Xbox. Many controllers, such as the Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller, allow you to customize button combinations, but end up being very expensive. I wanted to created a series of controllers where you can do that, but for an affordable price.
Looking back at some of the quizzes I'm retaking, I'm learning a lot more. For example, when it comes to taking the quiz about profit models, I learned about the long-tail profit model, which is a business model that expects profit to only come later or indirectly, as a result of multiple prior steps being achieved. It's good to review some of the lessons you learned, and practice makes perfect!
So far, when learning about entrepreneurship, it can either be a rewarding or challenging experience. One skill to learn is communication, it is important that you're able to communicate to stakeholders, employees, etc. I think the most important one is to be able to learn and adapt. Learning to take a loss is very important as an entrepreneur, as you can learn a lot from it.
Branding is integral to a successful company. For example, it's important to create a slogan that is catchy, as well as simple. If it's written well, customers will find it memorable and be more likely to purchase your products. A company logo can help as well, if it catches the eye.
Creating an executive summary requires you to be detailed, whilst keeping it brief. I also learned about elevator pitches, which is explaining to someone your business venture in the time it takes to ride an elevator. It's important to talk about your market demographic as well, so that you can get investors interested in your idea.
Today, I learned about the fundamentals about Entrepreneurship. It's important to have certain qualities when starting up a business. For example, being friendly and communicative with others is good, as no one wants a difficult person to work with. Additionally, it's important to be creative and resilient in the face of challenges.
Creating a Website is difficult, yet satisfying at the same time! I'm currently learning how to create a blogsite using WordPress. With WordPress, you have a wide range of themes and templates you can use to your heart's content! I think that there is a learning curve you need to have in order to master website development.
Revisiting Web Development, WordPress, etc, I learned of the various versions of WordPress. For example, WordPress.com is able to provide all of the tools for a hosted WordPress site. They also have the extension "WordPress.com" in the site name. WordPress.org does not have this. It has a visual text editor, and is a self-hosted version. You have a direct say in how the site functions, as you're the one who maintains the site.
Today I learned about growing a social media platform. Whether you do it through TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, there are ways of growing and gaining new audiences. In order to do this, it's important you be consistent in order capture new demographics. Interacting with your followers is also important in this process. It may be tedious, but your hard work will pay off!
I think that I am interested in Web Development. The process seems laborious, but I think it looks cool to do! I am learning Java, but I am interested in learning CSS and HTML as well! Learning different languages is key to success!
I learned about various ways to develop websites. There are such languages like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, which can all help. I also learned about local hosting, which is when you host a website on your computer in order to develop web applications on your own computer. This allows you to publish the results as you see fit, and not have other people look at your mistakes as you develop.
Majority of my time today has been spent learning about SQL, or Structure Query Language. This is the interface language that is used to interact with most relational databases. There are also non relational databases, referred to as NoSQL. They do not universally use the same language the way relational-databases use SQL. As such, there is a learning curve when moving from one NoSQL database to another.
I learned that Niche Websites can be monetized! They are sites that focus on a smaller part of a bigger market, providing content that could be helpful content and answer questions. If the niche has enough demand, then it can be monetized and possibly be a full-time job. There are sub-niches as well, which are even smaller topics from already known niches. For example, Nutrition is a niche of the health market, and "Nutrition for runners" is a sub-niche of the "Nutrition" niche.
Today I learned about Quality Assurance, which is testing software for businesses and companies. They make sure that the software and hardware works as intended. I also learned that there are different types of testing: smoke tests and sanity tests. Smoke tests are used to make sure that critical parts of the system work, checking that there are no failures, while sanity tests evaluate whether a claim or the result of a calculation can possibly be true.
Today I learned about developing apps! I'm mostly interested in the aspect of creating apps for iOS, since that's the system I'm most familiar with. I also heard that it can be a struggle trying to develop for both iOS and Android, as they are different from one another. I am interested in learning how to develop apps.
Today, I watched a few videos regarding web design and web development. One way that can be done is through WordPress. WordPress allows you to create a website and maintain it. It's a content management system (CMS) and minimizes any technical skills required of the person who adds content. The user interface is very friendly.
I learned of various ways to earn income from various virtual goods! This includes creating digital assets. Digital assets are anything you can create that are stored online and anybody can use. This includes, E-Books, Video Games, Webinars, Podcasts, and many more! The digital realm is a great way to earn income! All it takes is persistence and hard work!
I learned that there are multiple ways of earning money immediately! For example, you can get paid to proofread. You can also work from home using Amazon MTurk. These should be treated as a side-gig, as you don't get paid much from it. There is also survey answering sites, such as Swagbucks, where you can earn currency from answering surveys, watching videos, etc. You then trade in the Swagbucks currency for Amazon Gift Cards, and other prizes.
Today I learned about stress management and ways to reduce it. For example, when you get angry, stare into a mirror, or a selfie camera, and put on a smile for at least 10 seconds while looking at yourself. You are in control of your emotions, and can choose to be happy, even in the middle of an anger-inducing event.
I learned about improving my quality of life. Some of this includes financial awareness, and time management. Learning more about time management was VERY helpful for me, I struggle a bit with procrastination and deadlines, and learning ways to deal with that helped me. I also learned about the Parkinson's Law, where if you're given a longer deadline, you may take a longer a time to complete the task. However, if you have no deadline, you may not finish the task, let alone start it.
Today starts my first day of learning and working at Techie Youth! I learned many things such as a digital footprint, and how companies search of keywords in order to pick out the most capable of candidates. An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software that manages the recruiting and hiring process, looking through job postings and applications. I also learned that employers also name search job-seekers, in order to find out about their credibility.