Self-Taught Developer Journal, Day 62: New Beginnings
Tags: webdev, beginners, codenewbie, devjournal
Published: 2022-02-16 05:36:31

I finally reached 100 days of #100DaysOfCode. It is crazy how much can change in about 100 days.

I initially started this series as a motivator for myself as I documented my self-developer journey. For a long time, I always wanted to make this career pivot into tech and it wasn't until recently that I was at a place in my life where I felt like I could take the leap. A big factor that helped me realize this was joining Tech Twitter and doing #100DaysOfCode. I got to witness a community of individuals trying to start a career in tech, who loved learning, and supported one another. It didn't take long into #100DaysOfCode for me to realize this was something I wanted to pursue. That creeping what-if that always lurked in the back of my mind finally sprung to life. I'm going to do it, I'm going to become a developer.

Once I made the decision, I discussed it with my close friends and family who were all very supportive. I won't lie, there was an element of fear of worst-case scenarios, but I didn't want fear to stop me from pursuing my dream so I tried my best to be prepared. It was a really stressful time, I reached out to as many people as I could for advice with almost a sort of desperation like I was hoping someone could tell me the right path to success. I poured over podcasts, articles, readings, boot camp reviews, etc. with everyone giving different advice. It didn't take long for me to see that there is no perfect answer. Everyone experiences and walks their own path in life. There's no perfect answer on how to accomplish your dreams or become a developer. 

I came up with the best plan on what made sense for me at the time. That plan is the first article I posted in this series. Looking back at it now, a few things changed and a few things didn't and that's okay. I learned a lot and I'm proud of how much I've grown in a short span of time.

So that leads me to my next bit of news, I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this, but I felt like it wouldn't be right to not mention it. **I accepted a job as a Junior Software Developer and will be starting in March.** I won't go into exact details, but basically, I was offered an opportunity to work for the software development company that my current company currently employs after I brought up my desire to change careers. I feel extremely blessed and very lucky for the opportunity. I know how hard it can be to break into tech from the many stories I've read.

However, I don't want anyone to take away from this story that this is what it takes to break into tech or anything. As I said, everyone's life and story are different. But, what I do want people to take out of this is what I've learned from this experience. 

- Don't be afraid to talk to your boss or manager, opportunities might be there and you might not realize it. I am thankful to have a boss that understood where I was coming from and was willing to support and help me with my career change.
- Don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions, you never know who's willing to lend you a hand. I initially approached the Copresident of my new company asking for advice for becoming a developer. I didn't ask for a job or anything and was not expecting to be offered one.

I accepted the offer in January. While I was elated to land a job being able to do something I liked, I didn't feel the need to stop coding every day. I didn't want to stop blogging. I didn't feel the need to stop at all. So what does this mean? It mean that getting a job wasn't the end goal for me. I actually really enjoy learning about web development. I found out I like blogging a lot. I like sharing and helping others learn. So for people following, this isn't really a path on how to land a developer job. It's about someone who enjoys learning web development and building stuff. 

With that, I am ending this series, but I will continue blogging. To be honest, I wasn't sure what would be a good time to end this because the learning never stops, but I wanted to start writing with more time dedicated and not for consistency. It's been an amazing journey for this Self-Taught Developer Journal, but now it's time for New Beginnings.

Thank you for reading.