Hello guys!

I hope your week is looking good? Mine is looking like the story I'm about to tell. Last week in this post, I mentioned something about starting my coding journey and putting it in another post. Well, here it is! Before I go on and on about myself, have you registered for the Concatenate Conference? If you are a developer looking for amazing programming plugs, this is it! I wrote about it here last week as well.

Now to our story:

After 2 years of "thinking about coding", I finally started learning. My very good friend Tope (whom I already told has a permanent spot in my vote of thanks) (@topriddy) sent me a DM, following a frustrated tweet I had sent out about coding being very hard. It is definitely hard, but it's pretty interesting and is something you can learn if you want. Tope encouraged me to go learn HTML and CSS first before learning JavaScript; which was the best advice really, because things started falling in place after this.

For two to three months from December 2017, I changed my routine. After my morning prayers, I would open my laptop to code. I followed a few programmers/developer communities on Twitter and would check out every software development article I found (mostly the ones on Medium, which were packed with rich programming nutrients). I started courses on Udacity, then went back to Codeacademy, then freeCodeCamp, then W3schools. In January 2018, I attended my first developer meetup (organized by Figma) and it was eye opening. I met people that tried their best to steer me in the right direction, considering I was a level zero beginner.

Speaking of Figma, were you at the Hackhaton in collaboration with Github? Let me know in the comments! How did you find it? Should I do a separate post on my experience?

Fast forward to March 2018, an ever awesome newsletter I'm subscribed to (forLoopAfrica) sent in one of their many awesome newsletters, which allowed me to apply for the Google Africa Scholarship. It was sponsored by Google, Udacity and Andela. I applied with little or no knowledge and went on with my learning routine. I even went back to my application a few times before the deadline to indicate I had now learned new basic concepts.

Deadline came and on the day we were to get a response, and it turns out I had been given a scholarship! I couldn't contain my excitement, guys. It felt really good to have that.

We were to finish the 3-month course in 8 weeks and participate in helping each other on Slack. After the course period elapsed, 500 participants were to be chosen from the 15,000 scholars to go on another scholarship for the Nanodegree Course, still on Udacity. Sadly, I didn't make this part.

However, I had a fun time especially at Andela. Every two weeks, we were to be at meetups which were held in different cities all over Nigeria, with volunteers on standby who were always ready to help with our numerous questions. Trust me, when it came to questions, we had tons of them! I'm so glad I was a part of this program, it has really contributed to a greater percentage of my progress so far.

(Photo by Émile Perron on Unsplash)

Being the "almost - maybe - a - tiny bit - before - perfectionist" that I am, I'm still learning the same concepts elsewhere, so that I can have a well polished junior developer portfolio. This scholarship and its experience has been the major highlight of my year so far. 2018 has been feeling like I'm getting up and acting on stuff. Have you ever felt so alive about something before? Of course you have, why not share it with me in the comments?

I'm working hard towards and looking forward to becoming a fierce Front-End Web Developer. I also just found out about one Lynda Chiwetelu lady on Twitter that's just the amount of fierce I need. Working on being her friend (this might take a while considering I don't know how to make friends *wails*).

Stay winning,
See you in my next post!

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Hi guys!

Hope you had a great weekend?

I was at #BookHubTheEvent on Sunday and was really happy to see some of my favorite poets and my friends again. We discussed Poetry and Social Media and it was quite an enlightening session. I also bought two books: Chimamanda Adichie's "We All Should Be Feminists" and Okey Ndibe's "Arrows of Rain". I started reading the latter yesterday morning and I'm enjoying its direction so far. Did you go for the event? How did you find it?

Usually around this time and especially on some work days, stress could set in. A few people have favorite days of the week, saying it's Monday, but a whole lot of others will disagree. When I'm stressed or bored at work, I do any one of these five things. They're pretty basic and easy to do and depending on the type of person you are, you just might find one of them useful or even strike a balance between two or more options.

1. Doodling

Doodling is my to-go thing to-do when I'm stressed. I have always been quite artistic but, I promise you that doodling doesn't require any artistic experience. When you just keep drawing random lines and shapes on a sheet of paper, it takes you out of your current state. It relaxes you and takes your mind off things that might be stressing you. Remember you aren't doodling for an art exhibition, so it might as well look like a baby's fascination with a pen when you're done; at least the goal has been achieved.

2. Give in to distractions

You will always need distractions for times like stress. This is because, they are exactly the things you don't want, but are very necessary because they take you away from the fire that stress has created in your head. Distractions give you a clean slate. It comes in different variations and can help place your head anywhere else but the task that's stressing you out.

3. Rubix Cube

Try solving a rubix cube; consciously or unconsciously. The unconscious part would do just what the first two points do: take your mind off things and calm you down. The conscious part helps you to see the stressful task differently. You probably have been stressed because you have been limiting yourself to only two methods of problem solving or strategy. The rubix cube is a decision making type of "game" that could open your minds to the many possibilities you hadn't even thought of.

4. Music

This is probably cliche, but even as a writer, music helps me sometimes to do certain things creatively. When I'm stuck on a certain brief and I'm stressing myself too much with not knowing how to execute it well, one of the things I do is turn to music. I sort of feel the beats speak to me and from there, I somehow am able to concentrate on the lyrics I've always listened to, but never paid much attention to. Then I think of the brief again and somehow I'm able to coin something from it.

5. Take a dump

Absolutely the funniest thing because you can't just call excreta whenever you want. I can unapologetically say that this is one of my most effective ways to reduce stress from a task. This might only work for certain people, but I get most of my ideas (when it comes to writing) from the loo/toilet.

I honestly don't know how it happens, but I go in with an empty book and a pen and come out with scribbles. I think the toilet creates another world for you, away from the familiar faces and whatever their facial expression might do to heighten the already high pressure on you. The toilet tells you that you control this space and there are no bosses there. Just you and your task.

These methods might or might not collectively work for one person, but you could also find ways to tweak them to your taste; make it work for you. Look stress in the face and tell it to sit somewhere because you call the shots.

Image source (Apart from poster): Google.

What do you do to reduce stress at work? Which one of these would you try?

Have you read my last post?

Till Friday, xx

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Uncertainty can be fearsome at times, other times it can be hopeful or anything you want it to be. In my very early twenties, I found myself regretting a lot of things that I wish I had done when I was a teenager. While these things might not seem like much, they're quite important to me and learning them now is harder than it could've been if I had started earlier:

I wish I had -

1. Learned to play an instrument
This is one of the things I'm really regretting. If I had paid more attention to music class, I probably would've had a favorite musical instrument and learned to play it (For the record, when I mean "favorite", I mean the piano). I want to learn beat making, it's coming up so much and this girl knows nothing about reading music! Right now, my head is clogged with too much, I doubt if I would even have time to learn something new.

2. Learned at least one sport
One of my lecturers in University used to say that I was useless for sports because apparently I had the right height and I couldn't even play any one of the sports she mentioned. She was right, I do not know how to play any sport. I have, however found basketball interesting, but that's all there is to it - I find it interesting. I don't know anything about the sport, I don't even watch the games, nothing. I did visit a basketball court once and was more scared of the ball hitting my face than actually learning anything, so..

3. Kicked my career off earlier
I knew at an early age that I loved writing I have always read from an early age, but somehow, I just told myself that writing wasn't a thing. So I decided to be a doctor, then a lawyer, then, nothing yet till I got into University and was admitted for Human Resources Management (which I was hearing about for the first time then). I totally ignored writing and focused more on becoming a Management Consultant, but writing wouldn't leave me alone and I'm now just getting around to calling myself a writer. I wish I had realized this earlier.

4. Faced my fears earlier
I'm one to succumb to fear easily. That courage thing came for me much later. I'm glad it's far away from being as bad as it used to be, but I wished I had challenged certain things earlier. Maybe now, I would've moved ten times forward compared to where I am now, but Alhamdulillah for the journey so far.

5. Learned to drive earlier
I really wish I was like those people that just put a car on the street and drove. It's probably not important, but this is one thing I've spent too much time than necessary, trying to learn. I'm actually tired as it is. One would think I know how to ride a bicycle, but no. That one too. Let's just move on.

6. Lived more in the moment
I was too conscious of tomorrow to even think about today. I'm not saying it's wrong to think about tomorrow, I'm just saying as a kid, one could be easy on themselves, but I wasn't doing that. I missed out on a lot of things I could've worried less about and even now, I still haven't been able to reach those things that made me worry so much.

7. Traveled more
This right here! Rather than go anywhere - even if it was just three blocks away from my house - I'd prefer to just be in my house or my comfort zone. I remember at some point, I wished I had everything I needed in my room - shops, class, everything - so I wouldn't have to ever leave my room to go outside. Of course, at a point it started looking ridiculous to me.

8. Been responsible with spending
These days, I'm a saving queen when I can. I wish I had started way earlier though. Maybe my current "broke" fate would've headed in a different direction.

9. Made more friends
I absolutely LOVE my current friends, but somehow I wish I had made more friends. Not for the crowd, but for the concept of friendship. It can turn out to be something amazing at times and it's great for understanding the different views of different people.

10. Learned a language
This one is just very funny because, I took french classes from Primary School to University and still hated it. So, let me rephrase, when I say "language", I mean Spanish, Igbo, Hausa, Arabic, Hindi and German. Just that, nothing else. This is not to say other languages aren't good enough to be learned, I just think the way they sound is fascinating for me.

Do you have any regrets? Let's talk in the comments below!

Image source (except poster): Google images

Till Friday, xx

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Happy New Year, guys! It’s not too late to say that, is it? As is the usual fashion, when a new year comes like this one did yesterday, most of us already have our long lists of resolutions waiting.

This year, I have chosen to do just one thing with this blog: Put up posts on Mondays and Fridays (Come hell or high water). Mondays will be for random posts and on Fridays, reviews on movies/series, depending on what I have scheduled in my Cassiedaves Blogplanner.

Before I run away from the topic, I want to give massive hugs to my readers. You are awesome people! I sincerely appreciate the love you’ve been showing me and my utter laziness towards writing. I hope you keep sticking with me.

For the “clean slate” type of people like me, here are (In no particular order) ten things to do this January:

1. Major goal anyone?

It’s January, you’ve written down your long list of goals and you have the entire year to fulfil them. Sometimes, we get overwhelmed trying to achieve these goals all at once, so the interesting thing to do in a month like January is to pick the major goal. This task could be quite herculean because, a few goals can be on the same levels of importance, but they can still be narrowed down depending on priorities.

Once you have picked the most important one, make sure you are able to set it rolling and if possible, achieve it before the month runs out. If this goal is achieved by the set deadline, you are well on your way to receiving the best striker award.

2. Save Save Save

Save in any way you can! Financially, morally, every-other-something-ally-you-can-think-of! Saving is one term that has earned its way into my favorite bank. No matter how small, saving always ends up being really useful at unexpected times. The internet, being an information hub is an advantageous tool for saving facts. Don’t be left out of news flying by every second, they can be useful in business, personal life, even financially! You should subscribe to Google Alerts, it’s great for that. You even get to choose what news you want in your mailbox.

I also came across this handle on twitter and on their website, you can save a certain amount of money (no matter how little) towards a certain period of time. It’s amazing how small numbers can magically transform into big numbers!

3. Who doesn’t love a challenge?

Challenge yourself to try new things. These things are usually the types that never make it on your interests list. Back in school, I hated Computer Science and had to even further deal with it once I got admitted into the university. I still hate it, but I’m trying to see if I can learn coding. Some schools are teaching it online for free and so far, the only one I have registered to is Code Academy. You should check it out, their website is so beautiful and easy to navigate, you would think you were about to have the best meal of your life!

4. Everyone has a brand

A brand can have different definitions, depending on the person. I have two brands – my entrepreneurial business where I sell caps (more coming on this pretty soon) and my writer/poet brand: Lola Ogunnupebi. In a month like January, you can research the different strategies, techniques, methods in which other people in the same field have employed to grow their brand(s). Check out their journey, what makes them unique and use these as inspiration to form your brand’s identity.

If you already started, this is a fantastic month for reviews and future needs/goals for your brand. Constant brand development is an essential part of brand growth and there is no better time for that!

5. Stare the year in the face

So it knows you mean serious business! Just like you did for January, assign other goals to other months in an order of priority. I’m not saying that some of our goals are more important than the others, it can be easier for execution when we plan accordingly and follow that plan the way I follow food (which is really strongly).

6. Give gifts that keep on giving

One thing I think I want to do more this year is give. No matter how little. I know Christmas isn’t going to be for another eleven months, but who says it can’t start early? There are amazing causes to support on GoFundMe, you could also register to give blood on Haemo. It’s also still a gift if you can start a campaign on any crowdfunding site. We all need to help in every way we can.

Another way to gift is to help other peoples’ voices be heard or even tell your own story (ies). You absolutely do not have to be a writer to do this at all. Stand To End Rape (STER) is one platform you can contact, to volunteer as writers or story tellers.

7. Mini Self-discovery/Rediscovery

Pick a place to visit this month. Let it be away from everything else familiar. Sometimes, there are parts of us we still haven’t been introduced to. You don’t have to travel to this place, it should just be one to give you solitude. Reflect on everything and every step you’ve taken, are taking or about to take and think of ways to better achieve them.

8. Who wants coffee?

Drink more coffee this year. Because I’m liking it and I want to initiate you into its awesomeness. If I ever get addicted to coffee, please blame Nana Aisha Salaudeen for this hehehehe!

9. Smiles don’t kill, do they?

It is super liberating to smile, guys. The internal tension a smile reduces is out of this world and it’s reception is magical. Even in situations where you can’t seem to make yourself smile, try. Take a deep breath and pop out those gorgeous babies that the English language have decided to call teeth and smile! It calms, it’s peace.

10. Let’s pick a song

We all (well, maybe most of us), have a song that takes us back to some goal or want or action we have neglected, yes? Create a playlist on your phone (with any fun name you want) and collect songs that remind you to either take things steady or never give up, songs that inspire! Listen to them often to remind yourself of where you are going. Don’t forget to have fun along the way!

What is your January looking like? Do you think I’ve left out some salient points? Let me know in the comment section below!

Till Friday, xxx.

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Happy New Year, guys!!!

It's not too late, is it? Yes? No? No. :D 

So my year is looking good so far, I've never felt more excited. The projects I've set aside for the year are looking good. I've had quite a number of goals in the past years, but haven't ever gotten around to fulfilling them. At times, I even question my goals when they don't work. Mostly I just try as much as possible to stand right back up and re-plan. 

I haven't really "achieved" my goals yet, but starting them at all gives me so much joy and hope that there's this beautiful light at the end of the tunnel. This year, I hope that you see your goals through with so much strength and determination. Don't mind the fact that they never worked out once. Like one of my favorite poets (Titilope Sonuga) wrote in one of her poems, 

"Rock-bottom is a perfect place for rebuilding"

One of the goals I had late last year was to put up more posts and I think that's working out well so far...I've also decided I want to start using my own images (Since I watched Sisiyemmie and Tosin Alabi's Video), but I'm still saving for a camera, so....I have to use my low quality pictures for now, please bear with me and pray for me :D

Okay, serious talk aside, I'm going to be at The Modest Fashion Funfair and Expo on the 16th of January 2016, modelling for my friend, Haneefah Adam (Hanie). She's a creatively inclined person and also makes beautiful modest clothes. Please come see her designs and beautiful accessories from other brands too. If you also want to purchase tickets, see the flyer above.

I hope to meet you there! :)

What are your goals for the year?

Till next time,

Love, Lo.

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How chilling is this?!?

Hello!!! Thank God It's Friday! Whoop!

I mentioned in my post yesterday about bringing in the other images of the entry in my next post. Well this is it! Re-posted from Jessica. Enjoy!!!

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