"Why did the old lady pee in the ocean?" my old German teacher used to say. "Every little bit helps."
Your knowledge is a million little things. What seems simple now was once an unknown mystery.
One thing I learned while teaching myself to program, without the benefit of higher ed, is that even the smallest things were elusive at first. That snippet of regex that’s now second nature once looked like an ancient hieroglyph. Those keyboard shortcuts embedded in muscle memory were once completely foreign. Even distinguishing between a class and an ID—something I take for granted today—was a puzzle that took time to solve.
Yet, we often discount the value of these tiny drops. From where we stand now, knowledge can feel cheap—but it isn’t. Think about when you first started something new: what did you struggle with? What small insight made a difference?
If you’re just beginning, understand that every struggle is adding to your bucket. If you’re experienced, remember that what’s obvious to you now was once a mystery.
So, whether you’re learning your first programming language or just memorized a new keyboard shortcut, know this: every drop counts.