Have you ever sat down and looked back at different jumbled events in your life that each played a part in getting you to where you sit today? As I get close to the first milestone in the Software Engineering program I’ve been a part of for the last two weeks, I’ve done quite a bit of reflecting like this.
Some people know what they want to do before they even graduate high school. That definitely wasn’t me. In fact, I changed my major in college four times before graduating. I thought I wanted to work in medicine, then in a lab, then in sports, then as a chiropractor, then in coffee, and then back to medicine. As I’ve gathered enough life experiences to dabble in several different fields, I (somewhat accidentally) came across software engineering.
I’ve always thought people who could successfully code had the coolest skill I’ve ever seen. I tried a few different times to watch videos to teach myself some Python, but life always seemed to get in the way and I’d basically be back to zero. Then the coronavirus happened. I was able to safely stay at home for a couple months while still earning a paycheck, so I thought this was as good a time as any to look into ways to learn some coding. After finding Flatiron School, and spending a few hours on their Pre-Course Curriculum, I decided this was a time in my life (thanks to my amazing wife) that I could spend a few months in a full-time program and not have work get in the way. The end goal of course being a career in the software engineering field. If there’s anything I’ve learned over these last few weird months, it’s the importance of entering a career with job security, and I believe software engineering offers some great stability.
Like I said in the beginning, this is jumbled. But hopefully if you’re reading this, I’ve convinced you that just because you have interests and experience in areas completely unrelated to coding, passion and drive can get you where you want to be.