Software Engineering, But Why?

As an introduction, I am a woman, a new wife, an even newer mom, and I am on a mission to become a Software Engineer.

I have never been one to sit back and let life pass me by. I have goals, I achieve them, so then I create new goals. Procrastinator is not an identity I resonate with unless it comes to going on that run... I have high expectations for life, for those in my life, and above all else, myself.

6 weeks ago I put in my resignation to a job to begin a new journey (Bachelor Nation would love that). I have been a project manager for a web development firm for over 4 years. When I started at this job, I was the 5th person to join the team. Over the past 4 years, we had grown to be a 25–30 person company and I had launched over 20 websites. I had been there so long that I had even relaunched some of the same websites with a flashy new makeover. I felt respected and accomplished.

I had gone through several life changes while working with Supreme Optimization. I had moved 4–5 times, lived in a travel trailer in Colorado, traveled to several countries with work, left my 20s behind (good riddance), got married, and had a baby during a worldwide pandemic. Looking back at 4 years it feels like I have LIVED and I also recognize that 4 years isn’t that long.

So where does that leave me, the reason I even started this whole thing? I quit my job to pursue Software Engineering. ESHK! While my previous job circled the topic and I was somewhat familiar with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and how it all intertwines, I have no idea what I am doing. I haven’t even started and the “pre-work” (LOL... prework?!) has my head spinning.

In my mind, the pre-work is the assessment of my readiness. Do I have the ability to catch on quickly? Do I even have a foundation to build on? Can I do this and do it well? Right now, my answer is “no” but I would like to pretend it is “I don’t know” as if that is any better? I think I forgot to mention I am a natural pessimist and with the pressure of a family depending on my success, I feel like I am treading water just trying to breathe.

If you are here, you probably know me. Thanks for joining me on the journey. Let’s see what happens next.