YOUR BACKGROUND DOESN'T MATTER
Tags: watercooler, beginners, career
Published: 2020-07-25 14:35:44

I have asked many people this year about why they don't want to learn how to code. It has changed my life and the way I have viewed everything, but it seems like every time I talk to someone and suggested the career path, the most common excuse I have heard is "Well, I wouldn't be good at it because Xyz" or "I could never be able to learn how to code, I rather work at Xyz because it is not hard". A lot of people get the misconception that you ever needed to learn to code since you were 5 years old or go to college for computer science to be good at programming. I understand their position as for so many years, I have declined to learn how to code because I thought the same way. This could be further from the truth. Here is a tweet from Danny Thompson who started to learn how to code at the age of 30 after frying chicken for 10 years.

{% twitter 1281401421179617285 %}

If you would like to read more about his story, follow his blog post below! His widely-known story has inspired many people to change their lives and enter the world of software engineering! He is one of the finest examples that you can become a programmer regardless of your background. 

{% link https://dev.to/dthompsondev/from-frying-chicken-in-gas-stations-to-becoming-a-software-engineer-4ff4 %}

For myself, I have worked in multiple retail stores and warehouses. Each one hasn't challenged me to push my creativity to innovate.  I always have felt that this is not the career I wanted to do for the rest of my life. One day, I will become an important asset for a company and I will be pushed to create stunning products for either that company or other clients. 

![screenshot of Shawn Humphreys working at retail](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/2qkjlukz0q051ojz5iuq.jpg)

That is when I remembered the Robotics high school class I have taken in the past. I remembered how enjoyable the class was and how excited I was to program a small Lego robot to perform tasks such as grabbing tennis balls and dropping the balls to an area or follow a black line. After three months of self-learning web development, I have decided that there was no better time to start working on my dream than the present. 

![Motivational Quote](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hlwauflbr6g165zyfixm.jpg)

The best part about the technology field is that if you work hard enough, you can enter any career path within technology that fits your personality. Do you enjoy working for big companies? Do you want to grow a startup from the ground up? Do you prefer to set your schedule, be your own boss, and work with any client you want? There is a career path for most people in the technology industry. You would just need to learn the prerequisites for that career path such as popular programming languages for that career.

## Conclusion

It is never too late or early to start working on your new life! The technology industry is in high demand for programmers and it is growing even faster as technology evolves and more businesses that require an online presence to survive the current or future pandemics. There has never been a better time to start growing the skills you need to get your foot-in-the-door in the technology industry regardless of your background.