This blog is highly overdue (and a bit long)!
TL;DR I discovered programming when I was nearing the end of college. From the start, I was very interested in it. Programming was fun, creative, and I loved the fact that there is always something to learn. I even looked into minoring in CS, but it was very difficult to get a space in the classes, and I wouldn’t have had the time to finish the minor before I graduated. So, I ended up graduating and got a job in business. However, programming was always in the back of my mind. So after working full time for a year, I decided to make the leap and learn how to code!
I am loving my experience so far!
Bit of background on me..
Three things that I would say got me to where I am today are 1) my love for art and creating things, 2) my love for learning in general, and 3) my love of cultures.
I have always been interested in art and learning new things since I was a child. If you asked me when I was 7 what I wanted to be when I grew up, my younger self would have told you, “An artist.” I loved art because it gave me an outlet to explore my imagination and express my creativity. Whether it was sewing, drawing, painting, or knitting, I tried (and loved) it all. However, I was never that “great” at it, and so as I grew up, I decided to keep art as my forever hobby.
In addition to art, I also had an interest in East Asian cultures since I was a young child. It was something so different from my own culture, but I never really had a chance or took the extra time to learn much about them while growing up. It also didn’t help that the towns I grew up in were not very diverse.
When it was time to go to college, I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do in life or what types of careers were even out there. I did not think about art mainly because it was more of a hobby for me and I wanted to keep it that way. However, I knew getting a college degree was important to me. So, I went to university as an ‘undecided’ major. I eventually decided that, since I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life, now was my time to learn about different cultures, experience them, and explore new languages. Therefore, I decided to major in East Asian Languages and Cultures. I enjoyed my major and experience a lot. It gave me the opportunity to learn about the history of other countries, travel and experience different cultures, and meet a bunch of wonderful people.
Discovering Code
It was near my senior year of college when my friend invited to me attend a club, Web Monkeys, and it was there that I discovered coding. Web Monkeys taught some basic HTML, CSS, etc. I loved this new ability to create things with code! Because of the club, I decided to explore more about computers and took an intro to computing course before I graduated. This was one of my favorite courses I took while in college. I got to take apart an old computer, build and program an arduino redbot, and learned new ways of thinking with brain teasers and algorithms.
But soon enough, it was time to graduate college and go out into the real world. I ended up getting a job that was both unrelated to my major and my new found interest in programming. I spent one year focusing on my job, but in the back of my mind, I was reminded of all of the awesome things I learned in college about computers and coding. It was last August (2016) that I decided to officially take the leap and change careers. I applied for a scholarship to the Flatiron School’s Online Full-Stack Web Development program through Kode with Klossy. While I waited for the results of my application, I enrolled myself in a community college intro to programming course. I eventually heard back that I received a partial scholarship, and I joined the program shortly after that!
My Thoughts Now
I am really glad that I decided to commit myself to learning how to code. It has been about a year since I started my journey, and it only gets more exciting each day. I am so happy that I am able to learn new things every day, challenge myself, and am gaining this new ability to create! I have even started attending local meetups in hopes to become a part of my local tech community. Although it took me a while to discover what career path I wanted to take, I am thrilled that I am finally in a place where I know what I want to do in life.