Building…
I wake up most days hours before I have to be at the office, but that doesn’t mean the work hasn’t started. I wake up and complete at least one Spanish lesson, and then spend some time watching TV and either reading articles, writing, or some other light learning.
Then I get my son ready for school. I drop him off on the way in, and then drive an hour to work. During the drive I usually watch YouTube videos related to programming, or recently I have been watching some IT related videos, as that is the degree path I plan to follow, plus it can’t hurt. I then go to my job as lead web developer at a cool place (always good for the mental). The best part is they give me room to learn and grow as a developer (as long as the work gets done).
That being said, the reason for this article, I have been working with React Native the last few weeks, which was a first for me. Thankfully, I have a bit of experience working with React, so it wasn’t a huge jump. The front end is smooth, and the pages navigate smoothly. Currently I’m finalizing the data architecture and working on the login authentication and messaging aspects. I certainly have my moments of frustration, but all-in-all I am excited for this project.
It is definitely an important aspect of the routine to have a job or project or something that you are working towards on a short-term basis that you can see progress in. Once the workday comes to an end, I get back in the car to drive an hour back to pick up my son, but no time is to be wasted, so I watch either IT test prep, or Ethical Hacking/Penetration Testing videos on YouTube. I pick up my son and go home where I make us dinner.
We talk and play and spend some time together, and then he spends time playing or watching TV and I put on sports, while I work on a Udemy course. Lately I have been working through a C# Masterclass that culminates in some Unity Engine game development. It may seem that I am spreading myself thin, or that I am all over the map with some of this learning, but it all ties together, and more importantly, I love it. I view the Ethical Hacking and Game Development stuff as downtime because I truly enjoy it and it is what I want to do with my time.
If I could get a job in one of those industries, or even start my own game studio or pen testing firm, that would be the dream, but even if I continue to work in IT & software and mobile development and work on projects in the other fields in my free time, that would be awesome too. Even where I am today is a miracle considering where I’ve been and where I could be, but more on that later…
If you want to see more about me, please check out https://jonathonkischuk.com
Thank you for reading, and I hope you make the most of every day. Life is precious!
