Once upon an amateur
Amateur is a word that can mean a lot of things. It can be used as an adjective (amateur painter), or as a noun (an amateur actor). It can also be used as an adverb (amateurishly). An amateur is someone who has not yet learned enough to be considered a professional. An amateur can also be someone who has learned all they need to know about their specific field and is now ready to go pro.
Everyone who is currently an expert in whatever they are doing right now all started as an amateur and we only got better at what we do with lots of practice and consistency. There are a couple of things I do today that I will consider myself very good at but like I stated earlier, I was an amateur at them when I started but today, I have gotten a lot better.
Graphics design
I got into graphics design during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. I got bored of always playing video games and watching movies, so one day, I decided I wasn't going to keep wasting the opportunity the lockdown provided and opt to learn a skill. I chose graphics design because I figured I could learn it in a couple of months and start earning money with it.
I got some free Udemy courses and started learning graphics design as well as photo editing. I always posted my work on my WhatsApp status because I was excited to show everyone what I was learning. I remember one of my friends after seeing one of my designs telling me that I need to put a lot of effort into becoming better because my designs at that point weren't good enough, which actually pushed me to work harder.
After a couple of months, I felt I have gotten better and decided to start getting the attention of people. One way I did that was to create a logo for my class whatsapp group using the knowledge I got from a YouTube tutorial, and it worked! I started getting job offers from my classmates who have small-scale businesses and they all wanted logos.
As I kept designing logos and other graphics, I kept getting better and the quality of my designs improved as time went on. I'm a big believer in the power of practice, it's one of the best ways to get better at anything, and I've seen it happen time and time again. I stopped designing when my laptop got damaged and I couldn't repair it.
I'm still an amateur at...
A year after my graphics design era, I decided to go into programming because I realized I could do it with my phone. Right now, I have totally left graphics design after discovering that I love programming a lot. I'm more of a logical person and that part of me is much stronger than my visual creative side (which is needed for graphics design).
I'm still learning programming and will consider myself a baby in that world even though I have gotten a lot better than when I started. There is still a very long way to go in my programming journey and I even had to pause my learning right now because it is interfering with my university life. I plan on continuing with it after I have graduated from the university, I will definitely become a professional programmer later on.
Conclusion
There are still other skills that I will consider myself very good at right now and one of them is writing. I was once an amateur when it comes to writing but after doing it for a very long time, I have become very good at it and have professionally worked with it both as a writer on various online platforms and as an editor in my faculty editorial team.
What I'm driving at is that we become better at any skill as long as we are consistent and dedicated. Just remember to keep at it and don't give up on yourself when things get tough or difficult; keep going until they become easy again and so on until eventually, everything becomes second nature, that's what distinguishes amateurs from professionals.
Thanks for reading
Connect with me on:
Twitter: @kushyzeena
Readcash: @kushyzee
Edited with Canva
Soon you will be an expert :)
Certainly 😊 thanks for dropping by
The only thing am good at is my handwork
On every other person I can only try my best
Even the expert self makes mistake sometimes
At some point in life we all are amateur at what we know how to do best now
No one is perfect but the good thing is that we can become better at what we do and make less mistakes as time goes on
We were all amateurs at something we are very good at now.
Well-done!
Thanks for stopping by 😊
Someday, you'll be one of the programmers of Hive hehe.
Thanks Ate Jane, that's actually one of my goals 😁
You have just said it
We keep trying until we get better. Everyone started from some where
Exactly, what matters is that we keep putting efforts until we become experts
You reminded me of this your programing stuff.
This is one field I admires so much. Imagine if I succeeds, I will own many sites and be making money jejely🥱
Lmao 😂 it's not that easy sha but with determination, it's very possible to achieve that
Programming is cool and its future of it is bright as long as we keep growing our skill and knowledge about it. I have been lazy about it and I hope I can turn a new leaf to it.
Covid forced us to do new things and I am glad you choose a positive one.
The lockdown was a big tragedy for everyone but some of us decided to make use of the opportunity to learn new things. Thanks for dropping by
You did great bro, continue to flourish.
Graphics is one of the things I never got past the newbie stage. My brother is a prolific graphic designer, he does it professionally. He tried to teach it to me and I was just hopeless. I guess we can't be good in everything.
But you're doing so great.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
That's the truth, everyone can't be graphics designer and even me wasn't so good at it. Everyone has something they are good at, we just need to find it. Thanks for stopping by
I think with consistency and determination, you will definitely improve and become better in whatsoever you are doing. You will soon become an expert, keep it up 👍
That's what I'm praying for 🙏 to become an expert. Thanks for stopping by
You are welcome
Graphics design is another means of earning yourself some money these days.
Exactly, it's just one of the digital skills that's profitable
As I read your blog for a second I felt like we were twins. Similar blog intros, both started learning graphic designing during the lockdown bot swtiched to programming because we like logic 😃 and even my University work affected my programming a little bit I still had to give it attention even if it's an hour every 2 days which is better than nothing at all and with God's grace, I'll grow so well.
Thank you so much dear for sharing a part of me 😊
and you too.
Wow, it's truly very similar and yours is even more unique because it's rare to come across a female in programming, most of them go into UI/UX design or data science. I would have continued doing programming right now (even if it's once in a while) but I can't even risk it considering I'm currently in my final year in the university and I barely have time for other things outside school work
Don't worry, after school you'd go pro on it. Continue the great work dear.
That's why I said we could need twins. I just enjoy solving problems with logic
Thank you so much for the compliment.
I think there's room to get better at both skills, in time you will find the knowledge very useful.
Yeah I think so too, I will definitely get the knowledge with time