Why I Decided to Pursue Software Engineering
Tags: Programming, Careers, Software, Career Change, Software Development

August 20, 2020 at 2:50PM — I published that tweet clueless to the journey I was about to embark on. October 19th, 2020 at 8:45AM came much quicker than I thought and here began the craziest 3 months of my life.

Rewind

Behind every successful career is the ability to just dive head first into the uncomfortable. For those who know me know I am no stranger to jumping into risky waters. I left cushy and comfortable roles back in 2015 and never looked back — I was furiously hungry to learn, joining startups that were building technology solutions I was invigorated by during its earliest stages. Layoff after layoff I didn’t give up hope, I delved deeper and deeper into Silicon Valley moving from business intelligence and data visualization tools to machine learning software and then eventually falling into the rabbit hole of blockchain and ledger technology. As a product marketer I was excited to take on the challenge to develop narratives and storylines around some of the most cutting-edge technologies in the world.

Then 2020 happened. Like so many others, this year was a period of deep reflection for myself. It only took a global pandemic for me to realize the unhealthy habits I was fostering — defining my entire existence by my professional career, losing myself in the hustle to build my “personal brand,” denying that I was experiencing severe burnout…I knew I needed change. For me, that change was software engineering.

With each new role I took I tried hard to learn code during my free time. Truth be told, with the rigor of startup life I had a difficult time allocating study time for my Udemy courses or my Freecodecamp walkthroughs. 2020 was the year I finally shut the little voice in my head, quit my job and went forth to explore my code curiosity.

Hello World

April 8, 2020 — I stopped making excuses for myself, buckled up, opened the Terminal and started learning. I truly didn’t know where this path would take me as I started to learn, but little did I know that I would feel this excited and empowered by code. Seeing “Hello World” printed to the console had me jumping up for joy, I loved the thrill of building things!

Fast forward to June, I began taking this a lot more seriously. I wanted to just build things, I wanted to create, I wanted to do this so badly that I didn’t have the patience to go back to school to get a Computer Science degree. I spoke to so many wonderful engineers and mentors in my network, interviewed countless people on their experiences, read and listened to a dime a dozen books, blog posts and podcasts to really understand if I wanted to pursue this path. I hit a point where I knew no additional conversation could’ve helped me anymore, at this point I just had to throw in the bag and try this thing out for myself.

Enter Bootcamp

After much exploration and research I knew I wanted to pursue a bootcamp. Was I terrified? Absolutely. I didn’t even know if this was the right path for me, but I’m lucky to have friends and family who supported this programming curiosity and kept the love alive.

I put my heart and soul into getting into Codesmith’s Full Time Software Engineering Immersive, I don’t think I have ever studied so hard in my life. I practiced algorithm after algorithm on every lunch break from work, in between late night calls, sacrificed weekends, etc. Codesmith’s interview process is rigorous, and there were many times I second guessed this whole process. It took me three tries to just pass that technical interview (the max allocation they allow any applicant.)

Reflecting back on this journey, I understand why getting in was so rigorous. Bootcamps are not for the faint-hearted, especially with the curriculum Codesmith has created. I have spent nearly 90+ hours a week just on code, shed MANY tears, and just as many late nights creating personal and open source projects.

Trust the Process

I will enter week 10 at Codesmith next week, inching closer to my graduation date of January 22nd. This process has not come easy — I have spent sleepless nights debilitated by my imposter syndrome (I still experience this!), burnout from the 90+ hour weeks of learning, yet, I would trade none of it for the world. In 10 weeks I have built 3 full-stack applications and am now working on an incredible developer tool that monitors and visualizes GraphQL queries and schemas (more to come soon!). There is no such thing as a programmer who doesn’t struggle, successful engineers are those who treat struggle as the chance to learn something new.

I don’t know what the future holds for me just yet, or if I’ll find my way back into the blockchain ecosystem, but I can say I have never felt more excited about my future. I may not have a CS degree from Stanford, but I will relentlessly work hard to keep building. It’s funny, I’m not even sure if I’ll enjoy programming in the long run, I just know that this feels right. Call me crazy, but I want to change the world and I just know that this was the best next step. It is never too late to pursue a career in STEM and I hope I can inspire many other women to join me and shatter those glass ceilings.

If you read this entire post, please feel free to reach out with any words of wisdom, tips, or even just general thoughts as I approach the end of my journey with Codesmith. You can tweet me @sanamirpuri, follow me on Github, or email me at ssmirpuri@gmail.com. I truly love hearing from you all.

Just remember, if you believe in yourself, and are willing to put in the hard work, you can achieve anything you set your mind to :)