After some unlikely life events early this year, I was pushed to reflect on my life and do some soul-searching. Well, I am not saying I am done doing so but during my quest I did realize that one of the big reasons why I constantly felt something was missing from my life was because I was not quite satisfied with where I am right now career-wise. To start with, I work in a field completely unrelated to my (non-tech) college degree. So, I only had limited amount of skills to utilize and hence limited room to grow.
It was not until I was on a backpacking trip with a friend when she told me she had enrolled in a coding bootcamp prior to becoming a Software engineer that this thought about programming piqued my interest. After playing with the idea for a while and doing some research I finally decided to enroll in an accelerated prep course offered by a local school. And, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It could have been the novelty that fascinated me but it was mostly the problem-solving aspect of programming. I like crosswords and do some sketching in my leisure time and I felt the same feeling of accomplishment (the “Aha!” feeling) after catching a bug in a block of code or solving a coding challenge as I felt after I have solved a crossword puzzle or finished a drawing. Another aspect of programming that I really admire, is building. You can build and create things!! If that will not give you that God-like feeling then I don’t know what will (JK!).
I then took a couple of more free intro to coding classes that focused on front-end programming and user interface and experience. This fascinated me even more. I enjoy designing flyers and editing photos and I could see how I could corporate front-end programming skills with my passion for designing.
It might be safe to say that non-tech people like me use browsers and apps on a daily basis without realizing much what is going on behind the screen. And, once I saw the tip of the iceberg through these introductory courses and research, I just wanted to know more. So, here I am on my coding journey. I am aware that this is going to be a challenging one and I am scared but I am more excited about the new lessons and experiences the journey has for me.