Turning in my badge to become a software developer

Jvazquez90 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 02:32:52 +0000

Starting Out

I thought I had life all figured out . I spent my years in college studying criminal justice soon after graduating I joined a department near home.

At first it was awesome. Working in a big city you learn so much in a small amount of time. You see things that many people will never see in their lifetime. ( Both good and bad) At times, only the people you work with will understand the shift you just had.(The things you saw, heard, smelled). Yep, I said smelled... It's completely normal to crack open a beer at 6 am with your coworkers and just talk. Then you go home and sleep to prepare to do it all over again.

My Why

It wasn't until after my first child was born I started to think maybe I don't want to do this forever. I worked overnights for most of my career and having a child made me want to keep it that way. No way was I going miss Christmas morning because I had to work or any other holiday/celebration for that matter. Physically I was there but mentally I was exhausted. With irregular schedules, court, mandatory overtime I reached a point in my life where I was ready for a change.

I thought I would give my department 20 .. maybe 25 years of my life. Here I am 6 years later with 2 kids ,headed into my 30's and starting over.

Decisions...Decisions

I'v had been sitting around on my phone , on my computer, watching TV, playing video games......then I realized wow my life revolves around technology but not only my life but most of the world population involves/relies on technology. After taking a deep dive into a warm hole of information and research I made my decision on what I wanted to do! Figuring all this out was just step one for me. Then realizing going back to college wasn't really in the cards for me. After speaking to some current folks In the field Iv started to teach myself Java and Python in the meantime. After even more deep diving and research iv decided to start a bootcamp in a few weeks.

Follow My Journey

I hope to have some of you follow along on my journey. I am eager to learn and connect with others. Tips/advice are always appreciated.

DEV Community: Jvazquez90

Turning in my badge to become a software developer