From Nowhere to Somewhere
Growing up, I was dead set on a career in the medical field. With that laser-focus came tunnel vision and I never ended up exploring other fields. Fast-forward a few years, while I liked the medical field, I did not see myself enjoying it every day. With that realization, I was back at ground-zero — my “nowhere” — looking to switch careers.
Luckily, my friend had the answer. His initial career plans were put off course and for a while did not know what direction he was going in. However, he ended up attending a software immersive bootcamp program similar to Flatiron School. A couple of months later after completing the program, he had landed a job. Two years later he is working for a healthcare tech start-up company that he really enjoys. Finding myself in a similar situation and to see his life completely turn around with that initial bootcamp program inspired me to see whether there was an opportunity for me as well. Having feelings of being behind in where I should be in life compared to my peers, I wondered, “Could software engineering be the right fit for me too?” This would be a big jump, but taking a software immersive course that provides you all the necessary skills to have a valued, meaningful job in an exploding field was appealing.
As I spent some time immersing myself in the tech field, I took a couple of introductory online courses for languages like JavaScript and Python. While taking the courses, I found the material enjoyable, and it was so satisfying to complete small things like a working function that could add numbers together that you provided it. The idea of being able to build something myself and see the end product was captivating. Whenever you ask those people who are happy about their job, it is because they are passionate and wake up wanting more of it. To think that I could possibly create that new “it” app that everyone uses or help a company develop a new product that could change the world really excites me. As I went through those self-taught courses, I could sense that internal motivation, eager to learn more each day. Had I just found that passion others referred to?
My ultimate goal would be to help develop a product that is beneficial to the lives of many people, whether through joining a cutting-edge start-up or starting one myself. Software engineering is becoming vital in almost every industry and I want to be a part of that continued growth. The diversity of opportunities in the tech field with experience in programming convinced me to make the switch to Software Engineering and the best place for me to start was Flatiron School. I am thrilled, anxious, and eager to start this new journey. It is going to be intense, filled with long nights, struggles when my code is not working, and exuberance when it does. Wherever I end up — wherever that “somewhere” is — I can not wait to start and I am just going to enjoy every moment of it on the way there.
