I first started learning to code on my own when I was 13. I’ve come a long way since then, having taken a few different paths. But now, here I am, in my last term of college about to get my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

Do you want to see my first web site? Here it is. I originally made it when I was 13 (we’re talking 1998) and last updated it when I was 15. It’s about the cats I had at the time. I can’t believe it’s still up!

The thing that got me into learning HTML and CSS was when my dad took me to a work seminar on Macromedia Dreamweaver (which later became Adobe Dreamweaver). After that, I was hooked.

Later, when I was in high school, I took two years of programming classes. We learned Pascal, C, and C++. It wasn’t unusual to find me working out a problem on my napkin rather than eating my dinner at the dining room table. I had always loved doing logic problems, but programming took it to a whole new level. There were now infinite problems I could solve in many different ways!

My path from there was somewhat circuitous. First I wanted to write, but it didn’t take me long to remember I wanted to code. However, it turns out I’m terrible at physics, and that’s the honest reason that I ended up with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interactive Media Design, which did include coding but also lots of other things (and not physics!).

I worked in web design for a few years but had a negative experience, so I became a medical coder (not to be confused with programming) and did that for six years. By the end of it, I was pining for programming again.

Through self-study, I sharpened my rusty skills. With the help of a friend in the industry, I eventually got a job as a software engineer working the backend. That’s really what I always wanted to do. However, after a few more years, I found it too hard to get another job without a degree in Computer Science, so I decided it was finally time to get one.

That brings us to now. I almost have it and can’t wait to go back to work! I’m so glad that I always knew it was okay to change my mind and that I ultimately came back around to getting this degree. Working in computer science can be stressful, but it’s definitely worth it for me.