Bank Teller, Construction Manager, Software Developer
Tags: career, tips, beginners, productivity
Published: 2022-10-03 18:36:54

## Open and Honest

Straight out of high school, I thought I wanted to become a doctor because of my favorite show at the time. What I was not prepared for was the amount of work this would require starting with my first day of college. Without getting into too much detail, many years passed and I found myself in parties more than on my laptop writing my papers. This mindset and lack of discipline (at least with schooling) led to a lost soul within me. I was good at commitments beyond school. I was getting promotions at work, leadership roles, and even learning what it's like to be physically fit. Where I never progressed was discipline in regards to advancing my career for the future. I still pay for these choices now, but I keep my head up.

## Where Am I Now? What Do I think?

I find myself as an Operations Manager because I'm familiar and well equipped to lead different people in operations. Through some failures and many successes, I've learned that we can all make mistakes but we must put the work in to come out above the fray. Even with this wisdom, and specialization, I still committed to software development. With this career, I am constantly stimulated with new ideas, error codes, languages and new friendships. I had been longing for a path that is "future-proof" but also a path where I know I'm doing something beautiful. As of 10/3/22 I'm without my first role as a software engineer, but I'm optimistic. New Times Roman wasn't built in a day after all. (Yes, this is my type of humor most of the time)

## Tips and Advice

I went to General Assembly's boot camp, and I continued my learning to expand my skills. I am currently more comfortable with JavaScript and Python, and frameworks which complement these languages. So, anyone whose new to this world, or anyone just wanting to know they aren't alone in being late to the party, here are my two cents:

- While doing tutorials, read some books which solidify your understanding of the engineering side of it all.
- Connect with other people in your area to gain some friendships/connections that correspond with the world you're trying to break into.
- Build, build, build: I still use tutorials but I always make adjustments along the way for two reasons 1) I want to make it mine 2) It adds a level of difficulty if you venture off on your own so it forces you to learn.
- It won't make sense for a long time, but if you keep grinding through it, when you're building your first server on your own, you'll look back to the early days when you didn't know what the words "iterate" and "concatenate" meant. '
- To my last point: Don't be afraid to ask what every new word means. There are no dumb questions.
- Last but not least: If you think you aren't smart enough to make it past a wall you're hitting. You. Are. Wrong. 

To address a possible question - I loved my boot camp, even with it's faults. I am not someone who can push themselves outside of fitness, work and gaming. I pick things up quickly, but I needed the structure of a class. If you have been able to learn new skills all on your own, the self-taught route is a beautiful thing. 

Gracias Amigos