Mommy turned coder…
Now, your probably thinking what does this have to do with a tech blog? Well, I’d like to start off by saying that I haven’t always gone with the crowd or a ‘one size fits all’ kind of girl. I like being an anomaly and feel like thats the story of my life.
Here’s a brief look into mommy turned coder…
My desire to work in tech started with my husband who has a career in technology. While he would had flexible working hours, the ability to work from home, excellent pay/benefits, need I say more? I would be stuck at office with strict office hours, no flexibility and no perks. Granted I was in a completely different industry. I asked myself, “Why would I want to stay working in this type of environment?” It’s not particularly rewarding, I have no ties to this industry, and I want to be making a big impact. It was like we had polar opposite work environments. How in this day and age was I denying myself these same opportunities??? I wasn’t really drawn to my current field for any particular reason and technology was of interest.
Time for a change…
With that being said, I recently started a coding bootcamp — Flatiron School’s Software Engineering Immersion Program. It’s a 3 month full time immersion program in Manhattan, New York. My coding journey began nearly 3 months prior to starting bootcamp when I signed up for my first coding course — Codecademy’s Intro to JavaScript. Then I bought my first JavaScript book — Head First JavaScript. In the mean time, I went to tech Meetups, read, coded, and watched as coding material as possible.
When I finally came to find out about my acceptance into Flatiron, I was overjoyed! It paid off!
And then I quickly discovered…
The struggle is REAL! Going from mommy to coder is much more difficult than I had imagined, plus a lot more grey hair! The last two plus years, my life has solely focused on my daughter. It included story time, play dates, walks, and pretty much whatever we wanted to do. It was stress free (as stress free as things can be with a baby/toddler) and life was good.
Current state of affairs…
All of a sudden, I was feeling way in over my head. What had just happened? This is what I wanted right?! I wanted a change, flexibility, to be part of exciting world of tech, to challenge myself again, to prove to my daughter that whatever you set your mind to you can accomplish it. Looking back at the basics of JavaScript seems so easy compared to Ruby’s Object Orientated Programming or class methods and variables. Concepts like Ruby’s self and super are abstract and difficult to relate to the real world. And there’s so much material in such a short time span.
Three weeks in, twelve more to go…
Its a privilege and an honor to have been accepted into the Flatiron School. While in the moment, the day to day can be difficult and exhausting, but long term its worth it. It’s all about the journey, not the destination. I’m here for a reason, I need to be here and I want to be here. Not only is this an opportunity of a lifetime, but I’m here to show my daughter that anything is possible!
From mommy to coder…let the journey begin :)
“You are what you believe yourself to be,” said Paulo Coelho.
Follow my journey as mommy to coder…stay tuned!
