How my 20s led me to web development

Hi there! My name is Nia and welcome to my little chaotic corner of the internet. Refreshments to the left, restrooms to the right. I plan to use this blog for more technical writing but for my first post, we're getting personal. So strap yourselves in folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride. I'm going to be honest, vulnerable and mentioning topics such as abuse so here's a content warning if you're not in a safe space to read about such things. Here's my recap of my 20s and how I found tech, coding and my future career.

College Days

I started college in the fall of 2011. My original major was forensic science. Now math had always been my worst subject in school. I remember crying in 3rd grade for getting a C in math. It was the only C I had ever gotten, until that freshman year. I decided to take both college algebra and chemistry. Maybe had I taken them one at a time and gotten a tutor, I would have passed (passed meaning a B or better. Cs were not passing according to my parents). But I approached the classes the way I always had - with minimal effort. I managed to get Cs in both classes. I concluded that I wasn't intelligent enough to be a forensic scientist. It was too much math, too much logic. So I switched majors to psychology. I didn't want to be a psychologist but psychology had been one of my favorite classes in high school and I knew I could do well. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA and got both a Bachelor's in psychology as well as a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

The Wasted Years

Between the ages of 22 and 25, I didn't do much. I wanted to get my TEFL because ever since I was a teenager, it had been my dream to teach English in Japan via the Jet Program. So when I was rejected, I was completely devastated. I could have applied again. I could have applied to programs for teachers in Korea like some of my friends did. But I did nothing. Paralyzed by my fear of rejection and failure. I was a "gifted" kid. Everything came easily to me. I never had to study or work exceptionally hard at something. So every failure was devastating. Anytime something was too difficult, I found a reason to quit.

I spent my mid-twenties working minimum wage jobs, never once finding a use for my degree. Which I still have $30k worth of student debt on, despite my many scholarships in academics and for my disability. But that's a spicy discussion for another day. I was poor, in a toxic relationship, and going nowhere. Not to mention my car (my mom's old 2006 Ford Taurus we affectionately called 'Old Baby') stopped in the middle of an intersection and never started again. I haven't owned my own car since so I was literally going nowhere.

Motherhood

I had a baby girl in 2017. She is the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me and having her has changed my entire outlook on life. My relationship with her father became much worse. I knew I had to leave for my safety and so that I could be the happy mother she deserves. I needed to come up with a career plan. One that would allow me to support myself and my daughter as a single mother.

New Career & My Disabilities

After having my daughter, I acquired a love for pregnancy, labor and delivery. A career in obstetrics was the new dream. My plan was to go to nursing school, practice as a labor and delivery nurse, then become a certified nurse midwife. I took my anatomy, physiology and biology courses. I took the TEAS exam and passed with flying colors. I even excelled at the math portion, my old nemesis. I did it. I got into nursing school!

But while I was doing all of this, I was working as a CNA. Making $9 an hour overnight at a nursing home. And I hurt myself turning one of the residents. It wasn't the first time I got an injury at work. In fact, every shift ended in pain. I have fibromyalgia and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Ever since I was 14, my days have been filled with fatigue, joint pain, partial dislocations and anything else that decides to stop working for the day.

But I truly believed that I could overcome it to become a nurse. And perhaps if I had a strong support system, I could have. But clinicals and 12 hour night shifts is daunting even for a childless, able-bodied person. My best friend is a postpartum nurse so I got to see everything I would go through. And as a single mother, I decided it would be too much to handle. Because I would still need to work at the same time. Once again, I quit. That one still hurts. I still believe I'd make a wonderful midwife. But I knew I would regret it if I got permanently injured and couldn't be the mother I want to be.

In Comes Web Development

That leads us to one year ago exactly. April 2021. I had worked more retail jobs. Become my own boss making and selling candles. Working online contracting jobs. But none of it gave me enough income to leave my husband. I don't remember what led me to thinking about tech, but I do remember writing it off immediately. "Nah, I'm not smart enough." But after sitting on it for a few days, I had a heart to heart with myself. "Who said you aren't smart enough? Just because you're not an engineer like [my husband], doesn't mean you can't be a web developer. Yes, there's some math and logic. But remember when you studied your butt off for the TEAS and aced the math portion? It'll be hard work but you can do it." So I gave it a try. I did research on reddit and learned about The Odin Project. Did some HTML and CSS and made my first webpage. It was terrible.

But I was having so much fun! There's something incredible about taking a blank document and turning it into anything you can think of. Reddit also mentioned the Harvard course, CS50. Which was definitely far above me at the time. But the concepts I learned from learning C made JavaScript easier to grasp later on. However, the thing about being self-taught is that it's hard to know what to do next and to stay on task. I floundered for a bit and with my personal issues, I took way too many breaks. I knew I was going to need consistency and accountability.

100Devs

I saw Leon Noel's post on reddit about his free coding bootcamp, 100Devs. And honestly, I thought it was a scam. Nothing in life is free. And the comments were overly positive and almost cult-like. I just knew that it would start out free and slowly we'd be encouraged to buy his How To Code course for three easy payments of $59.99. But I also hoped it was real. I knew the structure of a course was just what I needed, but I could never afford a bootcamp. So I signed up and on that first class, I was greeted with the most supportive community I've ever been a part of. It wasn't a scam. Leon is the real deal and without his teaching, I would have never made the progress I've managed. In 3 months, I've made full scale responsive websites, a Wordle clone, a JavaScript dress-up game and so much more. I've learned to network and had coffee chats with some incredible engineers and developers. I've learned to think more logically, something I never thought I could do.

My Goals

I would like to leave my partner as soon as possible so I'm currently looking for any job that I can do while also being able to give focus to 100Devs. Having money and my own possessions will improve my mental health and make me more likely to complete 100Devs. I turn 30 on November 26 of this year. My ultimate goal is to be employed as a software engineer or full stack web developer by then. If I complete 100Devs, I truly believe I can do it. Even though this is the most difficult journey I've ever been on, this is the first time I haven't wanted to give up. I see a way out, so I'm putting my all into this. It took a full decade of being an adult, but I'm finally on my way. Currently, I'm sitting at the bottom of the trough of sorrow, largely due to my living conditions. It's deeper than I thought. But if I continue to take care of myself, manage my frustrations and lean on my support system when I need it, I'll get there in the end.