First hint of love for computers
I was first introduced to coding in the MySpace era! I had the flashiest
page of anyone I knew. I started learning things like how to build my
own pc by ordering individual parts and assembling them in the shell of
an HP first loaded with Win95. I made a few simple programs to assist in
completing redundant school work for high school. And then I stopped
investing time in the skills because I had been convinced that the only
way I "qualified" for college was if it was to be a teacher, and I also
loved the idea of teaching.
"Can you come fix this?"
Many years passed during which I was generally considered the go-to
friend/co-worker for basic pc troubleshooting. I could usually fix the
printer in the copy room at school and was generally the first to catch
on to any new Learning Management System (LMS) the teachers were given.
I was an early adopter of Google Classroom and taught many teachers the
power behind Excel. However, when a flashy new program would be
introduced at a school, I was always passed over while the male teachers
were assigned the Minecraft in School elective or to given "data pads"
to integrate with smart projector systems.
Pandemic Teaching
Then, along came Covid-ocolypse. I shifted to online learning without
issue, but my experience was not the norm. I watched so many of my
friends, former and current colleagues, and administrators struggle HARD
with using technology wisely and effectively. Everything seemed so much
harder than it had to be. I decided to get over my fear of being a woman
in the Computer Science field and started learning in October of 2021.
First, via free online tutorials, then through college courses.
Second Career
My first project (beyond Hello, World intro tutorials) was trying to
make a gradebook in Java. I was practicing with 2D arrays and
manipulating data and averaging inputs. It was still all entirely
console/terminal bound. From first look at Java to the point I
discontinued working on this project was roughly two months. At that
point, I started to realize that I would need more than just Java and
started to expand my thinking on my tech career.
View the code on my
GitHub
page!
Web Developer
I am now currently working as a Junior Web Developer in a part-time
position with Clear Resolution Consulting. In this role I am managing
the corporate website, assisting in a potential rebranding of online
presence, advising on front-end design choices, troubleshooting website
loading errors, and transitioning the site to an updated platform. This
opportunity has helped me shift from "learning wide" (covering a lot of
topics at the beginner level) to "learning deep" (gaining understanding
of more complicated principles).