Why Software Engineering Bootcamp, You Ask?
Software engineering was not a career that my teenage self had really ever considered. When I first began thinking about careers for myself at a young age, I was mostly interested in piloting Fighter Jets or becoming an actress. I eventually came back down to reality and started thinking more practically (plus I don’t have the vision to pilot Fighter Jets, sadly)… so, I graduated high school early at age 15 and began taking college courses in Ohio (my hometown) with NO idea what to major in. I took some basic Economy/Business classes, some English because I love Literature and Writing, and a Graphic Arts Design class that I loved. I did not stay in school long enough to graduate my first round, however. Instead, I found myself taking off into the world of Telecommunications and full-time travel.
When I first got started in Telecommunications, it seemed like an exciting, well-paid, thrilling and unique career. I was a cell phone tower climber, statistically one out of the two most dangerous jobs in the documented world. I enjoyed traveling %100 and working outside in different cities all the time, but I eventually realized I did not want to continue in this career/industry any longer. After I came to this realization, I knew I had to find a new home base (not freezing Ohio) where I could go to school again and figure out what I wanted.
I landed in Arizona due to the weather and the cost of living being much lower than California’s. Fall 2018 I started taking classes towards a Business Information Systems (CS) degree. I chose this because I knew I wanted the skills to work in any technology driven company or role. I also knew that I wanted to be able to work from anywhere. I was actually lucky enough to find myself a remote position as Tech/Client support for a remote software company, which further solidified my determination to work remotely in the Tech industry, and has also given me some invaluable experience with a remote tech start-up.
I am about 3/4 of the way to completing my Associate’s to transfer to ASU for the bachelor’s — BUT — I once again realized I was (slightly) in the wrong place! Why should I wait two and a half more years to finish a degree which hasn’t given much hands-on experience, when I can go full-force into a 6-month bootcamp and start making real money within a year?? After loads of research, I landed on Flatiron and I have been studying every avenue I can find in order to immerse myself completely into engineering. I am extremely determined and excited to have finally found my place and to make a life-long career with my new-found love for coding and my old-time love for design!!
