Why did I decide to learn Software Engineering?
Long story short, I was looking for a change. Change of career, change of lifestyle, to change my life. For the first time in my life I was in a place where I could see a future and so I made my first ever 5 year plan. Part of that plan was moving my income online.
Luckily, during 2020 I was able to move some of my income online. Not enough to be a long term solution and enable me to fulfil my newfound life goals but enough to get me by. But this isn’t about money. I’ve never been driven by money. Freedom. All I’ve ever wanted was freedom. The freedom to be wherever I want or need to be. Being free to explore my interests. The freedom that a reliable source of income can provide.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love my job. It can be rewarding, and it enables me to explore whatever creative avenues interest me. It has helped me travel the world and enjoy things I never could have dreamed of. And the free time! The free time it provided was wonderful for a while. It allowed me to grow as a person and explore things I never would have been able to without it but I wanted more. It was getting to the point that I NEEDED more. I wasn’t growing anymore. I’d stagnated.
I’d tried everything. I started up home businesses. Distracted myself with cute animals or learning languages. I picked up every hobby under the sun (most of which I loved and still enjoy from time to time) but it wasn’t enough. I realised all I was doing was killing time. That wasn’t what I wanted from life so nothing ever satisfied. What I needed was a whole new career. But what was going to interest me long term and not just become another thing I dropped when I realise it’s not scratching that itch.
It had to be something I already had a proven interest in. There are two things that I truly love to do and have done so for more than 6 years now. Firstly, I love to create and execute photoshoots. Alternatively, I also love designing and building websites on Wix. The former can’t be moved solely online and has limited job prospects so I decided to look into a career in coding, a booming industry with no sign of slowing down.
It ticked all my boxes: the ability to work from home, check; a desire to always be learning, check; the potential to open the door for more opportunities, check check and check! Best of all was the entry point. I didn’t need prior work experience or a flashy resume. I just needed to prove my knowledge and one thing I know about myself is I love to learn.
In the past I’ve dabbled in various coding apps but never really got far. Not for a lack of interest or enjoyment. I needed deadlines. People to hold me accountable. A goal to aim for. So I decided to check out Software Engineering courses and stumbled across Academy xi. One call with a Course Advisor and I was sold. Seemingly rashly, as a lot of my big life decisions must be, I signed up that day.
That was 2 months ago. Now I’m almost two weeks in and so far I love it! I’ve found the experience to be so incredibly rewarding and I’ve barely even begun. We’ve started to cover front end languages, beginning with HTML, then CSS and now JavaScript. It’s been so satisfying to begin with languages that show me the immediate result of my progress. I’ve spent every second of my free time exploring the nuances of these languages just like when I get stuck doing something I love! I’ve successfully found another thing to be passionate about.
Now that I’ve found a new passion, I plan to develop and hone my skills, particularly for front-end languages. So far I’ve discovered a whole variety of cool things you can do that weren’t previously available to me on a standard website builder but it’s not all fun and games. I’ll be the first to admit it I’ve struggled to wrap my head around JavaScript. Nothing made sense and all it felt like I got from it was exhaustion but as with every frustration I’ve had thus far, after a good night sleep it’s all starts to fall into place.
Even though the road ahead is a long and difficult one, I’m looking forward to it. This experience has reinvigorated my love for learning and joie de vivre. Not only am I motivated to jump out of bed each day but I’m enjoying my spare time so much more. It’s now something to cherish and not just seen as time to kill. I feel so fulfilled and we’ve barely scratch the surface.
