The last time I made a personal site was around 2004. I was freelancing and I needed a website for my business, but it felt strange and I couldn't quite give over my whole domain to business interests. I built a site using Dreamweaver (in code view!) and it was probably all kinds of awful, but it was the best I knew at the time.
Before that I made one other personal website that I was really proud of. I built it using Dreamweaver (in visual mode boo) and it was for an art assignment. It was weird and impractical. It featured an image of my hair that I created with a scanner.
In community college I took a class and got some kind of certificate in Microsoft FrontPage. Of all the places on campus where I spent my time, the computer lab in the library seemed the most full of potential.
I've been dissuaded from studying computer science because of my aversion to math and numbers. I like to think that I'm capable of overcoming that with enough time and practice, but when it came time to choose my college major, I went with the advice of a University-administered aptitude test and research my dad had done on up-and-coming careers. I earned my degree in Media Arts, doing plenty of film history and criticism but not enough production to become skilled in shooting or editing. What I did get from this course of study is an appreciation for stories and those who create them.
Through all of my education, it never occurred to me that I could do anything more than learn to use the programs I had. It took an impulsive (and irresponsible) reply to a blind list-serv email and subsequently landing a student job in web design to convince me that I am capable of building things. I finally realized that all of those things I've learned and used over the years were built by people. Individuals like me.
So, after many years, I am building a personal site again.
- My voice, however small, is something that I can give back to this field that I have the privilege of working in.
- I'll have the opportunity to learn out loud and get practice with skills I wouldn't otherwise get to use.
- Having a platform to highlight and signal boost others' helpful work reinforces the supportive community we should be building in the field and on the web in general.
Sometimes it only takes encouragement from one person to prompt and sustain great contributions.
I hope my contribution is helpful.