How it Started

I have this dream of being able to live off working part time. For awhile I considered if it was even possible. I started looking at careers that would pay enough for this dream to be possible.

There were a few guys back in my high school who were constantly getting in trouble for working around the blocks the school had up to keep kids from doing things they shouldn’t. I thought that was the coolest thing. Unfortunately back then and for a long time after, I thought I wasn’t smart enough to do anything computer related. Figured it was far beyond my comprehension so I never even tried. I wouldn’t have even known where to start.

College was a struggle. Once again I had considered going into something computer related. Once again I convinced myself I wasn’t smart enough. I even talked myself out of a comp sci elective that I had intended to take to see if it was something I could actually do.

I took a break from college for a few years even though I only had two semesters left. During that time I had worked in retail and a few warehouse print shops. I was so bored in these jobs. They were mindless and unfulfilling. I decided to finish up my degree that I had abandoned. I worked nights and took classes during the day, and slept in my car in between.

After my degree was finished I took a position doing customer service with the intention of applying to other jobs in the company as soon as I was able. At some point in all of this soul searching, I once again considered a career in computers. I began taking Web Development/Design courses at HACC.

HACC wasn’t great. I enjoyed most of the design courses. The professors for those were great. The coding/comp sci classes were awful though. They were just “watch this video and do this project,” and the videos weren’t even of him teaching. Must be nice to get paid to tell people to watch LinkedIn Learning.

I held out for too long, hoping for improvement. Of course nothing changed, so now I’ve got this pile of student loans with nothing to show for it. Once again I left the college program and decided to learn independently.

That’s where I am now. Trying to learn JavaScript off a Udemy course, books, and YouTube. It’s been hard, but I’m not giving up. The company I currently work for is laying off massive amounts of staff to send the jobs overseas. It is only a matter of time until mine is one of them.

I hope to be in a web dev position by 2025. It has been quite a journey. I hope I make it to the end.