Aha moment
Tags: career, womenintech
Published: 2019-09-22 08:06:01

There comes a point in everyone’s life where if they aren’t where they want to be they have to make the decision to make a change. Well let me tell you that’s totally where I was a few short months ago. I was laid off from a seasonal job and really needed a good consistent income. Now I had so many skills and talents but I was pretty much just sitting on them. I wasn’t making money, and with the way my life was going I needed a consistent stream of income fast.

Now of course my story started back in  1980 such and such, but to really understand where I am now let’s start in 2007. I started college at a local community college. I really didn’t know what I wanted to major in. I just knew what  I definitely didn’t want to major in and that I wanted to have a comfy stream of income. My major when I started college was Dental Hygiene and then I changed it to Radiology. However, the waiting list for those programs were super long so I ended up changing to Nursing. I was a young single mother to a toddler and let me tell you when you are in Nursing School you can not  work Full time. I was extremely dedicated to my studies and clinicasl. I would actually catch cabs to school which was 30 dollars each way. I had to do what I had to do. Nevertheless, nursing school and I parted ways and I embarked on another path.

As I mentioned before I needed money like yesterday because I was a young single mother with a son who loves to rock Jordans and Air Force Ones. So I looked into side hustles. I searched the internet to see how could I start making money quickly.  I started making jewelry and even considered making natural hygiene products and selling them. Now let’s be serious that truly wasn’t for me. I needed to find something else that was realistic.

So I really started searching for a hustle that I could actually enjoy doing. That’s when I came across Web Development. I gained a real passion for it and learned it on and off on my own for a while with programs like Codecademy. I just wasn’t progressing the way that I wanted to and wasn’t consistent in  continuing. So I enrolled in Skill Crush online. Skill Crush was awesome and so were the instructors. I learned so much. I learned Visual Design, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WordPress, some Ruby on Rails and Sinatra, and Responsive Design. I started applying for jobs but since I didn’t have the experience, no dice.

So I decided to just keep learning more and more. It just wasn’t consistent. So I started learning other things. I went back to my passion for playing Guitar and was actually accepted into Berklee College of Music. I really loved it. However, I think that when you turn something that was actually meant to just be a fun soothing hobby into a structured lesson it kind of takes the fun out of it. So I didn’t complete my studies there, unfortunately.  

I continued learning on my own. I gained a great foundation in Adobe Suite and learned Photography and fell more in love with the creative process and Graphic Design. I started making money with it and even traveled across my state doing Photography. However, remember that seasonal job I told you about at the beginning. Well that was this Photography job. I was laid off. So once again I needed money and I was tired of repeating this cycle of not progressing in my career. I wanted to have accountability in the pursuit of a career that I love.  So I enrolled in Full Sail University’s Bachelor’s of Graphic Design Program. This was one of the best decisions of my life. I began to realize that when I created things I felt more alive. I felt more in control of my life, my future, and my happiness. Not only that when I  create I can make others feel better about themselves and their businesses as well. 

I wanted to create more and really wanted to rekindle my relationship with my love for Web Development but this time I wanted to go steady. So I enrolled in General Assembly’s Immersive Software Engineer Program. This also, was also such a major game changer in my life. I have accountability and community and I've created amazing sites left and right. I’m being challenged consistently and more than that I’m overcoming every challenge and finding so much satisfaction. So far in a short 4 weeks I have  use HTML, CSS, JS, AJAX, and APIs and there is so much more on the agenda. I connected, designed, and coded an amazing Memory Matching Game and I am so proud of it. I still have two months to go but I am so excited about my future and Web Development and Graphic Design. 

With that being said I just want to let you know every setback is an opportunity for an amazing comeback. Whenever you meet a challenge or naysayers know that if you are truly passionate about what you are doing and keep going you will prove them wrong. I hope that whatever career path you have chosen its one that you are truly passionate about and not just one that has been pushed upon you. Your work is your signature. It’s part of you being released into the world so make it amazing because it's a reflection of who you are. Don’t forget to Live, Love, and Create.