Programming was not my plan all along. Actually, it was never my plan. I went to a straight-laced, collegiate prep high school (shoutout The Bishop’s School) where most of my classmates went on to Ivy Leagues. I went to UC Santa Cruz, and loved every minute of it. I was lucky to find my major during freshman year. I took Intro to Linguistics and was immediately hooked. I thought I would go on to be a pediatric speech pathologist, or maybe a translator, or something entirely different. Something creative, something I could wake up every morning excited about, and something that would make me wealthy. The thought of sitting at a desk all day repulsed me. The words software engineer never crossed my mind. I graduated college magna cum laude with honors, but still without a clue what career I wanted. So I planned to teach English abroad in Thailand to buy myself some time to figure it out. I made the arrangements and got a job that summer with a catering company to make some money in the meantime. Gastronomic delights have always been one of my greatest pleasures, so I ended up really enjoying my shifts tray passing canapés and pouring wine at weddings. I watched my ivy league friends get hired at Goldman Sachs, Spotify, or go to work for their dads.
Thailand was amazing. I’d never been to Asia before the minute I stepped off the plane, and couldn’t believe this was my life now. I marveled at giant gold temples, sweated in the humidity, learned how to ask for no sugar in my coffee. I perused the 10,000 stall weekend market, tasted exotic new fruits, and ate bowls of noodles so spicy my eyes crossed. I was assigned to a small city 3 hours outside of Bangkok, as the accelerated english teacher to 10–12 graders. The job itself was challenging and frustrating. I didn’t love it. But I was head over heels besmitten with southeast Asia. My 6 month contract at the public school expired but I wasn’t ready to leave Thailand. On a leap of faith, I moved to Bangkok. I found an apartment, made some friends, and got a new job as an online English tutor. I stayed for another 10 months. I was still in love with Asia but I was BROKE. And directionless. I had moved there to travel, but was giving all my time to a job I hated and even worse, not allowed enough time off to take many trips. On a two week visit home, my ivy league friends told me how jealous they were of my life. Social media painted an unrealistic picture of endless vacations in glamorous places. I awkwardly accepted their compliments, unsure how to tell them how wrong they were.
I moved home. I planned to work for a year and make enough money to travel back to Asia, but this time backpack around for a few months without needing to work. I remembered how happy I felt being around food and wine every day, and applied to some restaurants in the $$$ category on yelp. I landed a position at a swanky hotel called The Pendry, working at their pool lounge. The hours were long and I had to wear a bikini and heels on the weekends, but the money was great and I loved the fast lifestyle. After the summer season I traded my bikini for a starched collared shirt and transitioned to the fine restaurant downstairs, Lionfish. I was excited to go to work everyday. I loved tasting the daily special, loved the hustle and bustle of the hot kitchen. I even loved folding napkins and polishing stemware, gossiping with my coworkers. Lots of my ivy league friends got promoted, and/or moved to San Francisco and New York.
Finally I had enough saved up for my trip. I would be gone for 6 months, visit 5 countries, and hopefully have an epiphany somewhere along the way about what to do with my life.
Spoiler: no epiphany. But after a particularly tearful emotional breakdown, I did realize that I didn’t have to decide what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I just had to figure out what was next. Suddenly a huge pressure lifted off my shoulders. I just had to take the first step in a direction, any direction, and if I didn’t like it I could pivot. A close friend from college had just graduated from a software engineering bootcamp called Flatiron, and landed a great job in New York. She encouraged me to consider it. Coding is like a mix between solving a puzzle and learning a new language, she told me. You’ll be good at it! I thought back to school, how foreign languages had always been my favorite — Spanish, Chinese, Italian. I studied syntax in college for linguistics, and remembered how that had felt like a fun puzzle too. I knew there was a lot of money in tech, and I wanted a piece. I figured there was a small possibility I’d like coding. I reminded myself that it didn’t have to be the choice to end all choices, and I decided to apply.
I spent another year at the restaurant. My big trip had depleted my bank account, and bootcamp ain’t cheap. Then the pandemic hit. I had planned to attend Flatiron in person in San Francisco, and absolutely hated the idea of accelerated learning online. A few months into the pandemic I reassessed. I was 26, and not getting any younger. I didn’t want to keep waiting around. I’m grateful I spent my early twenties traveling, but I was ready to settle down a little and begin a mentally stimulating career. I set a start date and began the pre-work.
Fast-forward to now: I’m halfway through Flatiron’s Software Engineering Bootcamp (full-time, pandemic version). To my utter surprise, learning online is fine. I’m on Zoom ALL day, and Flatiron does a really good job of providing instruction and support so you really don’t feel like you’re taking an online course. Sitting at a desk all day still repulses me, but the hours go by quick. I actually really enjoy coding. It IS like a mix between a puzzle and learning a new language. I feel smart. I feel capable. I feel challenged and stimulated. And the most exciting thing? At the end of this, I can mold my software engineering skills to fit any industry I want. I can even keep traveling. By choosing to simply take the next step in one direction, I’ve opened up infinite paths.
