Hello and welcome to my blog!

My name is Carolina Powers. I’m a mom of an amazing 1-year-old boy, a wife of a wonderful and talented husband, a former physical education teacher for Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) and a current front end development student at the Iron Yard.

I’m also Brazilian. I was born and raised in Brazil. And, as you may know it, Brazil has many beautiful places to visit. Growing up, I would spend summer vacations in family trips visiting new cities and states around the country. I can say that I inherited a passion for traveling from my parents. But while they were passionate about Brazil, I decided to travel around the world.

Prior to coming to the United States, I went backpacking around Europe with friends, and I went to Canada to study English in an exchange program. Then, when I finished college, I decided to do an exchange program in the United States to improve my English. Well, during my exchange program, I met my husband, and long story short… I ended up moving here to be with him_ since he doesn’t speak Portuguese to live in Brazil. :)

I graduated in Brazil with a Bachelors in education with emphasis in physical education. I had always had plans to work as a PE teacher in an elementary school. So, after I moved here I started working in a preschool while I was in the process of validating my bachelors degree. Fortunately, not too long after getting my curriculum evaluated and validated, I was able to get a job as a physical education teacher with a Orange County Public School, where I worked for four years.

My career plans changed a little after I had my son. My son was born two months early and I was fortunate to be on maternity leave for the next 8 months. However, when I went back to work, I didn’t feel like my job was the best option for my family and I. Teaching nowadays require a lot of planning time taken way from family time and I didn’t feel like it was fair to my son, and to us as a family. So, I started thinking about what other passions could be turned into a great new career. That’s when I thought about the tech industry.

My husband is a mobile developer and he loves what he does. He got his job after graduating with an online Bachelors degree and I was able to see from close the process of becoming a programmer. He also switched careers in his late 20s and we couldn’t be happier with his decision. With that in mind, I decided to learn programming. I first started with Team Treehouse and Code School to see how I would like it. And because I enjoyed every minute of it, I decided to dive deeper into this world by starting the front end program at The Iron Yard.

The Iron Yard is an intensive code school with several locations around the country. I can testify that it is a very intensive program and that with three weeks into it, I have already learned a lot… I have learned about the growth mindset (which I talked about in my first blog post). I have learned how to use the command line, git, GitHub, Skitch, node. I have learned about HTML, CSS, Media Query and the basics of JavaScript. In the past three weeks, I have recreated The Iron Yard Blog, I have developed a responsive website starting from mobile first, I have created a vertical timeline (“social network posts style”), I have created a chess board (waiting to become interactive with JavaScript) and I have developed this blog that can be seen in any screen size.

As you see, I have learned quite a bit in such short period of time. The Iron Yard program moves very fast and I’m very excited about everything that I’m learning! And, as I continue to learn and grow as a front end developer, I’m going to try to share my learning experience in this blog. Now that you know how I've gotten here, I hope you can continue to follow along with me.

See you in the next post!

You can learn anything. Você pode aprender qualquer coisa. Usted puede aprender cualquier cosa. What?! That's right! あなたは何を学ぶことができます Don't believe me? Well, google it! You will find that the newest researches show that the brain acts like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it develops its abilities. The more you use it and struggle, the more it grows. After decades of research on achievement and success, Professor Carol Dweck has found out that most people are held back not by their innate ability, but their mindset. Based on her researches, she has developed the Growth and Fixed Mindset concept. Let's take a closer look at this concept.

A growth mindset is when students or people believe that their abilities or intelligence can be developed. It's when they believe that success comes from effort, practice and hard work. It's when they believe that if they have not accomplished or learned something yet, it's only a matter of time. Professor Dweck has found through her researches that students with a growth mindset exhibit confidence, happiness, a good attitude towards challenges and the love for learning. She has found out that those students who have switched their mindset from fixed mindset to a growth mindset, have improved their ability to learn greatly. So, let's take a look at some key attributes of a fixed mindset.

A fixed mindset is when people believe that traits are set in stone. It's when they believe that some people are born gifted and that each person has their natural talents. It doesn't matter how hard you try something, you're either good at it or bad. Students with a fixed mindset tend to give up easily when faced with a challenge. This type of mindset does not allow you to believe that you can learn anything through working hard and struggling. But, don't be fooled, you can learn anything!

Do you think you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? I believe I have a little bit of both. I have experienced some of what an individual with a fixed mindset has. I grew up excelling in sports and subjects in school, I was a quick learner, and I never enjoyed a challenge due to the fear of failing. On the other hand, as I go through my experience as a student at The Iron Yard, I am practicing a growth mindset. I am working very hard and I am struggling. I am slowly moving in the right direction. I am not there YET, but it's just a matter of time. Now, I am not brilliant anymore, but I do work hard because I was told that I can learn anything!

Do you believe you can learn anything? Don't doubt it anymore! If I was able to learn a new language at age 22. If I am in the process of learnings HTML, CSS and Java Script, at age 30. If I can learn anything. You can also learn anything. Você pode aprender qualquer coisa. Usted puede aprender cualquier cosa. あなたは何を学ぶことができます