When I first joined OCAD University’s Digital Futures program, I was drawn in by its promise of blending creativity, design, and emerging technologies. It felt like the perfect fit for someone like me who wanted to push boundaries and explore new digital landscapes. The courses were filled with exciting ideas, from interactive media to forward-thinking design concepts. But amidst all this creativity, I hit a major roadblock: coding and web/app design.
The Challenge: Struggling with Coding and Web/App Design
As much as I loved the innovation-driven atmosphere, coding was something I just couldn’t wrap my head around. It seemed like a foreign language, and the structured logic behind it felt far removed from the more intuitive, artistic aspects of the program. I quickly realized that if I wanted to create digital products and applications, I needed to understand not just how they looked, but how they worked. Yet, despite my best efforts during the program, I found myself struggling to make progress in coding and web/app development.
A Turning Point: Taking Learning into My Own Hands
I soon recognized that if I wanted to improve, I’d have to take a different approach. The university provided a solid foundation, but the hands-on technical skills I needed weren’t fully clicking in the classroom setting. That’s when I decided to take control of my own learning journey. I turned to online resources, coding tutorials, and personal projects to bridge the gap in my skills. Whether it was late-night YouTube tutorials or meticulously working through coding exercises, I started teaching myself step by step.
Building Skills: The Power of Self-Taught Coding
It wasn’t easy. Debugging code for hours or facing errors that seemed impossible to solve became regular challenges. But the more I practiced, the more things started to make sense. My understanding of web and app development grew through self-guided projects, where I applied what I learned in real-world scenarios. These projects allowed me to explore ideas that went beyond just theory—combining design with functionality and creating intuitive digital experiences that I was proud of.
A Creative & Technical Blend: Bringing Ideas to Life
Once I gained confidence in coding, I began to see how it could elevate my design work. What started as frustrating and tedious became a powerful tool for bringing my ideas to life. I could now design and build apps that weren’t just visually appealing, but also highly functional. The ability to blend creativity with technical skills opened up a new world of possibilities, and I became more independent and driven in my projects.