from chemistry 🥼 to software engineering 💻
I'm a self-taught developer that enjoys taking things from thought bubble to function. I want to make things that are useful and well design both visually and functionally. Coding is problem solving and getting into the flow of making something work and figuring out how to code it keeps me coming back to the editor. Coding isn't magic but it's the closest thing I have the super powers and I want to continue to make and do things that at one point mystified me. I want to push the knowledge I have to make something cool.
I worked as a technician at the help and repair desk at school and most of my fellow coworkers were some form of CS degree, and while we were sharing some classes(math really) my Chemistry class were taking a very different approach to the problem solving method than theres. During down time hearing them talk about their projects or actually watching them code, asking questions when I didn't feel like I was disturbing their flow. I was dabbling here and there then, but I was in Chemistry classes that were arguably kicking my butt, so it often got pushed to the back-burner. I finished my degree thinking I'd never really go all the way for coding and for a while I didn't. I worked as a lab manager, and it took a lot of focus and skills, but I had 2 bosses that used various coding to help our jobs be easier and again I found myself asking questions to learn and help them.
My second boss loves Matlab, and a lot of what they were running in the background involved that. While not everything they did involved my portion of managing the labs I was very interested and wanted to know more. So I took some of Matlab's basic starter classes, and while me and Matlab didn't really fit the coding bug 🐛 was found. So I still helped with the logic behind the coding where I could for my boss but I went down the path to finally learn more coding. Python was my entrance, then Javascript, then more Python and just bits and pieces that come along in those journeys. I was fully into this new thing, I also really told no one for a while until I started to build projects because I wanted to make sure it wasn't just the new shiny thing. Spoiler: I couldn't stop. I wanted to keep learning and keep pushing.
Coding has been something I didn't realize I needed, but wow has it been a passion that I am happy to have. I find myself watching random youtube videos even in languages I don't know because the logic and coding fascinates me, or wondering if I could figure out how to do that. The journey isn't over yet, but we are definitely enjoying each step.