The realization I wanted something different to happen...
I think for me, it was when I felt stuck. When I realized that I didn’t like the job I had but didn't know what else I'd do. I was in and out of college for a few semesters, nothing was sticking. I loved to learn but I couldn’t stand to be in lecture all day.
Then What…?
If I wasn’t going to go to school, then I'd definitely have to work. In the age old feud between “Experience Required” on every job description and not being able to get a job to get experience, I got a job at a car dealership selling parts. It was really fun for the first few months! I got to learn an entire part number system, a computer system for repair orders and invoices, catalogs and rooms full of parts to discover.
The harsh reality...
After a year of that I was on the verge of a meltdown if I had to wake up at 7am again and stock parts all day. I had learned so much and was addicted to asking questions, but after I had reached the peak of my current job description, I was left craving more. Once I finally saved up enough to buy myself some time, I left my job to go serve full time at a restaurant.
Sweet Sweet Overtime
Restaurants are some of the most dynamic, versatile, and incredible work environments I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. I absolutely loved going to work every day. I loved meeting the customers, learning about food, wine and cocktails, and being a part of a team that really relied on each other. My lovely coworkers quickly reminded me how hard they work outside of work as well. Most people I found were trying to put themselves through college, or saving up for their band, or are trying to fund their art! Whatever it is, I’ve learned so much from them and it made me think to myself, “What am I working for, not just now, but 5 years from now.?”.
Maybe lets try programming?
My dad and my uncle are both developers and, while I had been preexposed to programming and the fact that it existed, I had never really looked into it. I started out with the free CodeCademy courses in HTML and CSS. I said “Hey, maybe you can build a website, people need websites, and you could do that from your laptop!”. Once I finished those languages, I was prompted to begin the JavaScript course. I was quickly reminded that this was a completely different beast of a language, but pressed on to find out just what programming was all about.
He’s got an Idea
There was always a buzz about the tech industry being the fastest growing industry in the world, but I didn’t realize that it was a much more accessible trade than I thought. I didn’t have the time, money, or attention span to sit through 4-6 years of college to get a CS degree. But when I heard about bootcamps, I thought “Man this is my ticket. I’m going to learn as much as I can, as fast as possible, and I’m gonna do it in Seattle.”. I started looking into how I could get myself into the tech industry as quickly as possible, and what better way to do it than to pack up and move across the country to Seattle and enroll in a bootcamp. Six months later I packed up one suitcase, one carry on and a backpack, and moved out to Seattle to pursue my crazy idea to become a Software Engineer.
If only I could’ve recognized this sooner!
The constant throughout all these experiences is that I could never shake my desire to learn (sometimes despite all my best efforts to). The hardest part for me about making a career change, or going back to school, is to start. I like to say now that “The hardest part of any process is going from 0 to 1.”. I mean it as in “once you take that first step, you’ve got momentum behind you.”. It’s a snowball effect, once you put the right actions into place, and you continue to strive for those same goals, it all starts to come together. I’ve found that so much more gets done with passion, because it’s so much harder to convince myself out of passion than anything else.
The Gist
I think what I'm trying to say is that it can be scary to make a life move and not know what’s gonna happen on the other side. I just want anyone who reads this to know that it is very possible, and it is very worth it. If you can find your passion to learn, and reinforce the drive to pursue that knowledge, whatever it may be, anything is possible. It takes a lot of work, and it can seem scary, but do your research, learn as much as you can about what it is you want to do, and make the best of what you have. You got this! From the random stranger behind the keyboard to you, you got this!
Top comments (0)