I first published this on Medium in January 2018, one year after I left my classroom to learn to code. More than 4,400 people read it, and 19 of them wrote back with their own stories. The advice still holds, so it belongs here with the next generation of builders.
Exactly one year ago, I had never opened my macbook’s terminal.
And thanks to pop culture, I thought a coder was synonymous with a hacker and was someone who enjoyed working in a dark basement with massive headphones in a hoodie. I did not know a single web developer or anyone to counter or challenge that image in my head.
I was someone who couldn’t be further from that stereotype. I was an extroverted English teacher with a love for Shakespeare and Salinger, with a flair for theatrics, and a Masters in Teaching Liberal Studies. I could navigate Google for purposes of scholarly research and the occasional stalking of ex-boyfriends, but beyond that as well as my computer’s word processor, I was relatively un-savvy when it came to the world of tech.
Is it evident yet that as of a year ago, I had 0.0 knowledge of what coding truly entailed? And yet, flash forward to January 2018, I am on the precipice of a major life change, am in love with web development, am about to begin a career as a software engineer, and things couldn’t be further from where they were back then.
Just a year ago, I had grown restless in my career and felt ready for a new challenge. I had met a few coding bootcamp graduates and was intrigued by the allure and the unknown world that is web development. The entire field itself felt unfamiliar and sort of sexy in its mystery. Despite the image of the antisocial coder that I had in my head, my curiosity had formed. I wondered:
How does one build an app? What do coders actually do? But wait, how does the internet work?
On a whim, I signed up for a free Codeacademy course, which was an intro to HTML/CSS, I believe. I wasn’t sure that I would have the intellect or ability to learn it myself but the desire was there. I started attending local Seattle tech Meetups, trying to meet people in the industry, and began exploring what sort of opportunities were available to me.
Everything changed the moment a new friend told me about Ada Developers Academy.
Bootcamps felt out of reach, seeing as most range in cost from 10–20K, but she explained that Ada is tuition-free! I learned that Ada is a highly revered training program for women and gender diverse people who want to become software developers. It is unique from other bootcamps in that it is a year-long in length, which allows for genuine immersion into the learning process AND also guarantees a five-month technical internship afterward. To no one’s surprise, it is also incredibly competitive in regards to admission, so attending felt like a long shot. But I was hungry for it . And the idea of attending a program that emphasized collaboration between students as opposed to competition was so dreamy to me that I became obsessed with getting in. It was quite literally all I talked about from January-March of 2017.
I threw everything I had into preparing and hustled my ass off for months until the application window opened. And I am not being superfluous when I say that my entire life changed on March 29th of 2017 when I opened my acceptance letter. I quit my job the very next day and left everything I had ever known behind.
As I approach the first anniversary of my pursuit of a career in coding, I thought it would be interesting to catalogue all the changes I’ve undergone in the past twelve months.
So here it goes:
As I mentioned, I picked up the hobby of aggressively attending Tech Meetups- as many as I possibly could find (sometimes 5+ a week!) in efforts towards building my network of developers and entrepreneurs- and quickly learned that while the field is dominated by males, there are many rad communities of women and folks who are working really fricken hard to change that fact and so many of which I now feel lucky to be a part of.
I left behind a job I loved and many amazing coworkers I had been with for the past SEVEN years
I, along with 47 other amazing and inspiring individuals, became apart of Cohort[8] at Ada
I began attending school again for the first time in a decade, which was mostly lecture-style, and literally went from 9–5 each day!
I read Sandi Metz
- I began to make friends and mentors within Seattle’s tech industry
I learned Ruby, Ruby on Rails, HTML & CSS
I became obsessed with Sandi Metz
I attended RubyConf in New Orleans as an Opportunity Scholar where I learned that my community of coding friends does not have to exist just within Seattle (read more about that experience and my apparent love of writing lists HERE)
I MET Sandi Metz!←
I learned that Java and Javascript are different
Eventually learned what that difference is (special thanks to my industry mentor @mjdwitt who tried his best to hide his laughter when I asked him to explain it to me)
I competed in my first ever triathlon!
I learned that coding is by NO MEANS an independent or antisocial art and thrived during our class’ collaborative pair-programming and team-based assignments
I also learned that I am capable of working independently and problem-solving on my own when we were tasked to work alone on other projects
I learned how to consume and write my own API database
I applied for the first time ever to speak at a tech conference
I discovered the terror that is insomnia
I was rejected from said tech conference but that is NOT going to stop me from applying again next year!
I learned Javascript and Backbone
I built many MANY websites and applications in a variety of tech languages (checkout my Github repo directory HERE)
I learned to love (and also hate) Test-Driven-Development
I began learning the foundations of Computer Science (although, tbh I still don’t know what binary trees are/how they work… but we’re all a work in progress, right?)
I cried in our school bathroom on more than one occasion / felt completely unworthy of receiving such an amazing opportunity to attend Ada / felt as though I must have tricked them into letting me in
I worked on my feelings of self-worth and with the help and support of fellow classmates and new Ruby friends, I eventually realized that I too deserve to be here
I learned the joys of refactoring and returning to sometimes just one-week-old code only to realize how awful it is and how much cleaner it could have been if only I had known what ternary operators are!
I went through 3 massive notebooks filled to the brim with aggressively color-coded notes:
I learned the importance of impeccable git-hygiene when I lost two days’ worth of work after my computer broke down
I began volunteering with ChickTech to give back and encourage young girls that they TOO can succeed in STEM and the world of tech!
In prep for internships, I interviewed with 6 different tech companies, whiteboarded MANY algorithms & DID NOT DIE
I judged a High School Hackathon where students actually believed that I myself was a coder!?
Slowly but surely, I too began to identify as a coder
I officially completed the classroom portion of Ada!
I volunteered to support/help the NEXT batch of Ada students (fondly referred to as Adies)! Their cohort ( C[9] ) classroom portion begins next week! 😁😁😁😁😁😁
I was placed at my top choice for my internship, which will be with Amazon’s Kindle Team, beginning in February!
For my culminating Capstone Project , I taught myself React Native and wrote an iPhone app for teenagers in search of volunteering opportunities in just 3 weeks. Here’s a preview of the VOLLEY:
To watch my presentation, click HERE
- Oh, last but certainly not least, I adopted a kitten and named him Dexter (and he is the best purr-programmer I’ll ever know)
- AND bam! 💣 In just two days from this very moment, my classmates and I will be DONE with our Capstones and we will present our projects to our friends, families, instructors, AND future employers!
Soooo… You could say things have changed just a little bit.
This past year has not only been an intellectual renaissance for me, but in the process of learning to code, I have been encouraged to live more vulnerably than ever before and have discovered what amazing things can come from taking a risk.
I’ve learned that I grow so much more when I fail, as opposed to when I get something right on the first try.
While this year has been emotionally straining on my relationships, I’ve learned to savor my spare time and the importance of spending it genuinely and wisely.
I’ve learned to bet on myself.
I was someone who thought that the workings of a computer and the internet were that of magic, but now after understanding what’s going on under the hood, I’m even more in awe of its capabilities and aware of the power it has to connect people and create a better world than the one we live in.
While I at times may have questioned leaving my career as a teacher, I ultimately am so happy and proud to be a female entering the world of tech and as someone who is motivated to help make it a more collaborative, welcoming, and diverse space.
And with that, I’m off to tackle yet another year and to continue on my coding journey, which truly feels like a great and grand adventure. It reminds me of my favorite Dumbledore quote, which I will end on:
“And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”
And be sure to check out the video presentation of my React Native iPhone app VOLLEY HERE!
Thanks for reading! Remember, there’s room for you here too. Follow my journey: 👩🏼💻@LoLoCoding
Nine years after that first line of code, I’ve gone on to lead developer relations teams and help thousands of new developers find their way into tech. If you’re in your own first year right now, tell me in the comments where it has gotten you so far.
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