Is it happening? Is this state of limbo finally over? Am I REALLY about to finish this massive transition from self-employed professional trombone player in New Orleans, LA to full-time software developer in Madison, WI?!?!?
From what I can tell, based on my limited understanding of the universe and the nature of my reality, the answer is a resounding YES. Are there still loose ends to tie up and more puzzles to solve? Absolutely. But the bridge between these two phases of my life has been built and I can’t believe it’s finally time to walk over it.
When Covid put a stop to live music and my only source of income in March of 2020 my world was tipped upside down. My fellow musicians and I had no idea when our jobs would come back and there was a sense of dull panic among us. My wife and I drank whiskey and made music videos starring our cats for a couple of months before fleeing the sweltering heat and desperate violence of a particularly depressed New Orleans summer, settling down in a shed in the backyard of my generous in-laws. It was there in Central Pennsylvania that we made music and art, got married, and restlessly pondered our future. Art is a difficult way to earn a living and the exhaustion from years of touring and scrapping for tip money in New Orleans bars and clubs was already weighing on me even before Covid showed up, and we knew we had to make some big changes. After our impromptu nuptial in a beautiful forest clearing, I headed back to Louisiana to meet my fate.
New Orleans was a sad place when I got back, with all my local haunts empty or boarded up and I started to feel a deep sense of mourning for my old life. With that pain, however, was a glimpse at a new life. What would that new life be? I had no idea. I started researching potential career shift opportunities and slowly but surely realized that the only path that made sense for me was Computer Science. The great things I heard about Oregon State’s post-bacc program only made it clearer that this was the way, as the state of Oregon had already given me a wonderful undergraduate experience at Lewis & Clark and the beginnings of a music career in Portland. I decided to go full speed ahead with the program which meant we had no means of a steady income during school, but we were lucky enough to have a trick up our sleeve. We spent three grueling months fixing up and selling our house, which included the violent removal of our shed by Hurricane Zeta and a remarkable yet predictable show of resiliency by the city of New Orleans. With enough in our pockets to get me a degree, we packed up our car and drove to Santa Fe, NM to hole up in the wondrous and sun drenched desert of Northern New Mexico while we licked our wounds and began our new journey.
It was there in the desert that I realized this path was going to work. I became obsessed with my studies and developed a true love for programming and its utility in the modern world. The creativity I’d been exercising my whole life was fully applicable to the creation of fun and useful software. I could do something I enjoy, make real money doing it, and still have time to engage in the music making I love so dearly. I spent my days studying, hiking, biking, and realizing that I may never live surrounded by such raw beauty ever again. We soaked it up. Then I started applying for jobs.
I’ll skip over most of the gory details, but let’s just say it was…not fun. BUT, in late December after hundreds of applications and heartbreak, I finally managed to land a job in Madison, WI starting a week after my graduation. This news came to me two days before moving yet again, this time back to the bosom of Central PA where we were preparing for an indefinite stay at the house of the eternally generous in-laws. Indefinite became definite, especially as we nailed down a rental properly (just yesterday!). Suddenly, the plan was complete, save for two more CS classes. Just like that, all the unknowns we’d been grappling with for almost three years became known, quantifiable entities. That cloudy, obscured future is upon us. How do I feel about that? That might require another post.
Until next time!
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