The Short Story
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I make websites. I make cookies. I make time for my family. But the most important thing I do is, I make life happen for me not to me.
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I am a Computer Science student currently residing in Belgium. I have a passion for learning and outputting meaningful work. As I re-enter the workforce following graduation, I would love to find a workspace that aligns with my core values of encouraging curious minds, balancing work and life, and positivity. My hobbies include reading, baking, anything outdoors, and of course anything related to web developing. If you’d like to know a bit about my origins story and how I became interested in computers, then keep on reading.
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The Long Story
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I Like Computers
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I grew up in a tiny town located in west Texas and from the age of 15 I knew that I did not want the life of a small-town girl. I needed to find a way out and I needed it to be something that would not send me right back to where I started. Which is why I joined the military. I served for 8 years as a medic, I married my wonderful husband and had some awesome kids but a part of me was still unsettled. I am grateful for all the opportunities the military provided but I knew I could do more. It was at this point that my husband encouraged me to pursue my dreams while he continued to serve and support our family.
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I wanted to build things, I wanted to see my creations come to life, and I wanted something tangible. I just needed to figure out how I could accomplish it. My daughter was in kindergarten, and she was in an after-school program that teaches children how to code. Oddly enough, I found myself sitting on our couch playing her coding apps long after she went to bed, and I was having fun! I did have some previous exposure to HTML and CSS and can recall enjoying them. I decided to explore the world of coding and started by watching YouTube videos where I made my first ‘Hello World!’ application using JavaScript. The second I saw those two words I was hooked and saw that it was a way to check those boxes of creating something and outputting a viable product. Sure, the creation was real in a digital sense but to me it was as palpable has holding a pen.
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My Journey Through OSU
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I researched many options to figure out how to break into the tech field and ultimately decided that the post-baccalaureate program Oregon State University offers would be the best fit for me. Now that I am nearing the end of my schooling I can reflect and confidently say that I made the right decision. It hasn’t all been easy, but I have learned so much and I actually had fun building the different projects.
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In 2019 I enrolled in my first two classes: Introduction to Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics. Two weeks in and I felt like I was going to pull out all my hair from all the frustration I was feeling. I felt overwhelmed and confused with almost every project even if it was a something simple. It seemed like I needed a remedial class prior to the intro classes because I had no idea what was going on. I would cruise through Piazza (at the time) looking for clues to figure out how to complete my coursework. I also utilized everyone’s trusty search engine Google. Both Google and my peer’s Piazza posts only resulted in more frustration because I would see language and wording that I was unfamiliar with, and I would just go down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what it is they were trying to explain.
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Finally, through the help of a kind TA and some wonderful feedback from my peers I finished both classes and felt like I had a better understanding on how to complete my classwork. I will say this though, I am one of the most independent and stubborn people you’ll ever come across. The first few weeks felt like a lot of hand holding where I was the struggling party, and I did not like that feeling one bit. I started asking questions like ‘how I can google more efficiently’, ‘which websites provide me with the most detailed and up to date information’, ‘do you have any YouTube recommendations’. Basically, I was looking for anything that would help me become a bit more self-sufficient. If the military taught me anything it was that the answer is always there, you just need the tools to find it.
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Now I’m not saying that this is course where you can make it by relying solely on yourself. I’ve learned that others will always know more than you and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t ask them to do the work for you though, ask them how they did it, where you can find documentation to back it up, and finally do some digging and learn a little extra on your own. I won’t lie and say that all my subsequent courses were cake, but building this foundation is what has helped me get to the last semester at OSU and I am very grateful the instructors, peers, and TA’s that have been on this journey with me.
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The End
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Just kidding, this is only the beginning of what I hope to be is a great career. Over the past few months, I’ve been researching just what exactly I want to do with my degree. The options seem limitless, and I like them all which has made it difficult figure out exactly what subset I want to break into. However, the one thing I do know is that I will make it in the tech industry.
