My DrupalEasy Journey: Minor Bumps in the Road

I began my DrupalEasy journey with the greatest of intentions. Jumping in head first, I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro, set up a new local development environment — I highly recommend DDEV for its power and flexibility, and because it allows development teams to use Docker in their workflow — and reacquainted myself to Composer and the command line. If there was a roll, I was on it.

Then week 2 happened. What I learned then is that unfortunately, having a teacher doesn’t automatically make the path to Drupal proficiency a smooth, easy ascent to greatness — at least not for me. The greatest challenge that I encountered, and totally underestimated, was the whole concept of time.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re learning Drupal while also working a full-time job. This was fine when I was teaching myself on my own time. But with an actual course like DrupalEasy, I totally underestimated the time commitment of scheduled class times and assignments. While the homework is optional, I have to at least attempt it to get the most out of the course.

In week 2, I had a vacation, a wedding, and a team retreat on my calendar. To say I fell behind in the class is an understatement. On top of catching up with email and work tasks, I now had to find time to watch hours of video lecture and complete the homework assignments. The class was learning without me and I felt totally frazzled.

I realized I had to get focused — to get really intentional with my time and plan, plan, plan. It was the only way to balance Drupal, work, and life. Thankfully, both Michael (my instructor) and Addi (my boss) were extremely supportive. I also knew there was a gap week scheduled that would allow me time to catch up. (Hello gap week!) Soon, I’ll be right back in line with all of my classmates as if I had been there all along.

So if your Drupal journey is anything like mine, know there’ll be bumps along the way. Mine was time. Just don’t let a bump on your path become a deterrent. It’s okay to fall behind or get a bit lost. Just don’t stop. There’s hope. Your “gap week” is approaching.