My name is Maddy and at present, I’m in my last quarter of school for a BS in Computer Science. I also hold a BA in Psychology. For the next 10 weeks, I’ll be documenting the journey of working on my Capstone Project here. But first…

I’d like to share a bit about my journey. It’s definitely a lot more personal than technical. Sometimes the focus feels like it’s just on what stack you’re working with, what languages you know, how many leetcode problems you’ve solved, or other metrics. But, it’s also important to remember that there are real people with rich and varied life experiences behind each keyboard (blame that insight on the aforementioned psych degree, I suppose).

As I enter my last quarter of classes, having completed a software engineering internship over the summer, and with a SWE job lined up for next year, it honestly feels surreal. I’ve been working towards this goal for a long time and there have been many obstacles and delays along the way. Naturally, I’ve been reflecting a lot recently, which makes this a great time to share. 

My interest in programming began innocently enough when I discovered that you could use logic within Excel formulas (not just add stuff up!). I then learned about macros, and when I reached the limits of what the “record macro” button could do, I found out that you could actually view the code that was generated, and tweak that to your needs or write up code from scratch to interact with your spreadsheets. I started automating reports for my team at work and using my spare time to take some intro level programming courses online and at my local community college. 

Way back in 2016, I found out about Oregon State University’s online post-bacc CS program, applied, and was accepted. I started my first official class in fall of 2016 and figured I could knock out a few classes a quarter while continuing to work full time, be done by the time I turned 30, and voila. However, life had other plans for me.

2017 brought with it a divorce, moving twice, and a general upheaval of my life. Needless to say, I put my classes on hold for a bit. By fall of 2017, I felt ready to try again. I made it through one more class and decided to put things on pause again because I honestly wasn’t sure that I wanted to continue with computer science. Which was just as well, because more upheavals (both good and bad) were headed my way in 2018 and beyond. 

In the summer of 2018, I quit my stable corporate job, got rid of most of my possessions, and packed what I could into a small teardrop trailer with my then-partner.

We traveled around the US until it was time to part ways, and in late 2019 I moved to the Bay Area full of hope and excited to explore all that the area had to offer. Surely I would meet so many interesting people, do so many interesting things…

…and within a few months the Coronavirus pandemic laughed in the face of all my hopes and plans. I spent all of 2020 in a small house in Oakland where I lived with my best friend instead of exploring the Bay. My friend worked in tech and as the year went on, I got to see the interesting projects she was working on and the engaging problems she was solving (since we both were working from our makeshift home “office” consisting of our two desks jammed together in the living room – a scene which I’m sure is familiar to anyone who has worked from home over the last 2 years or so).

I realized how much I missed solving technical challenges and just being part of that world. That fall, I re-applied to OSU’s CS post-bacc program, quit my job (different one this time! I swear that I am generally a much more reliable and stable employee than this overview suggests, haha), and picked up where I left off with classes in January of 2021. I’ve been chugging along ever since then, through blood (figurative), sweat (literal – I moved to the desert with a broken AC), and tears (also literal). And now I am 10 weeks away from finally accomplishing this goal that I set for myself EIGHT YEARS AGO. 

I share this not to complain, or to claim that life has been unfair to me, but rather to provide an example that progress toward reaching our goals is rarely, if ever, straightforward/linear. The goals themselves can change, evolve, or be let go only to return later down the line when you’re in a better place to achieve them. 

I’ll be almost 35 by the time I start my SWE job next year. I used to think that was so old, why would someone bother at that point to start over like that? But here I am. I love learning and truly believe it’s never too late to learn something new. After all the twists and turns, I am so close to achieving something that I know I can be really, really proud of, and I know how hard I have worked for it. 

That being said, I’m really excited to work with my team on a project that will bring together all we’ve learned throughout our coursework! And so very excited for what lies beyond after the next 10 weeks. Stay tuned for my updates, insights, and reflections along the way and thanks for reading.