Why did I decide to study software engineering?
Why did I decide to study software engineering? Well, for my answer to make sense, you might need a little context… Right now, as I am writing this, we are living in very uncertain times. With the current, and persisting, COVID-19 pandemic, the job market is unstable. Some things we have taken for granted our entire lives are now no longer guaranteed. If that wasn’t enough, there is a major, and long over due, paradigm shift happening here in the United States. Each of of these things on their own would cause some uncertainty as to what the future holds, and combined… there is no telling what our future is going to look like… but life goes on and in order to thrive, rather that just survive, we must adapt.
I am a Jack of all trades type. I was in school for WAY too long. I have studied everything from architecture to things like biology, ecology and even decided to study business/economy for awhile. I have worked in several different fields including sales, carpentry, boat restoration, auto mechanic, business management… just to name a few. I have started a few businesses, and I have many hobbies. All of these things age great. I have had the opportunity to learn several lifetimes worth of knowledge in my 32 years and I have had some amazing, and some not so amazing, experiences. I have experienced the joy and pride that comes with creating something with your hands. I’ve been caught in an intense storm in a small sailboat with my dog, Apollo, when everything seemed to go wrong. I’ve met people from all different walks of life, and I have enjoyed absolute solitude, with the exception of my dogs, in a small, off grid cabin in the North Georgia mountains that I built myself.
So, why did I decide to study software engineering? From my experience so far in life, when the world… or your situation… changes, you must change. Rather than trying to make your new situation fit your current way of life, embrace it, and rise to meet the unfamiliar… adapt accordingly. It seems, to me at least, that the world will always need people that know how to tell our tech what to do. Even in these uncertain times, there seems to be more demand for software engineers than ever… I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Huge bonus, by the way… you can work remotely! During a seemingly endless pandemic, this was a major deciding factor for me.
Did I mention that I have a ton of hobbies? Well, in case I didn’t, I do. I enjoy building things, so I learned woodworking. I like music, so I learned how to make it, and so on. Programming has been one of those hobbies on and off since high school. I would usually just learn bits and pieces for a project or to accomplish some goal, but then I would forget it. So, I have always had an interest and I have accumulated a very basic understanding of how programs work. Now that I am out of work and stuck at home all day, I decided that it would be a good time to explore that interest. As it turns out, I REALLY enjoy it.
So, I guess the reason I decided to study software engineering is that I have always been curious about programming, and once I was able to dive a little deeper into that curiosity, I found that it is something I truly enjoy. Software engineering also seems to be a very stable line of work. Even with the current state of…well, everything… software engineers seem to be in demand. This is how a am choosing to embrace change. Software engineering is my answer to the question “How do I thrive in such uncertain times?”. I adapt
