Engineering Dreams
There came a point in which all the advice I kept receiving about how to lead my one and very important life crashed together. It ultimately led me to learn to code more rigorously. Knowing I wanted an extraordinary life, I sought to maximize my potential — and I truly believed I had a lot of it. My high hopes crushed me when I realized that I couldn’t immediately save the world by continuing to work at a non-profit organization, even if I were the most efficient CEO. Nor would I make groundbreaking neuroscience research findings with my bachelor’s degree unless I put more time into the field, around 10 years more time, a dauntingly long way away. And art, my other passion? Well, I feared that should only remain a hobby.
I needed to begin my extraordinary life — the life which involved pursuing something meaningful while keeping me financially stable — today. Immediately. It became increasingly evident that, at 22, time was already running out. There were so many things I wanted to accomplish, and it soon dawned upon me that coding would be the best vehicle to achieve my lofty goals.
A degree in neuroscience, an orientation towards non-profit organizations and a love affair with Buddhism brought me to the Bay Area. In my free time, I immersed myself in San Francisco life, inevitably meeting software engineers and learning about how much they love what they do. They engage in creative problem-solving to unravel complex issues by constructing things that work far beyond their own abilities (among other things). I wanted to do that. So, I learned more about it.
When it comes to the field of computer science, I can see the ocean of it; I’ve rowed in a boat across its surface; I’ve even dipped my ankles in, but there seems to be so much more to wade through. Specifically, I have been dabbling in web design with HTML and CSS, learned a bit of Java in a college course, and worked in IT for three years at Claremont McKenna College, my alma mater. I want to become a software engineer because I want to be able to swim from shore to shore across the bay of computer science and teach other people to do it to.
I want to achieve the things which coding allows. There are simple tasks that can be automated, websites that can convey information more beautifully and simply, apps that can simplify your life, games that will teach you skills, systems that will sort and organize your information, and more feats we can achieve in ways we couldn’t before. All of this is possible through learning to use technology to best suit our needs. Far from talking about software engineering naively, I also am curious how the human-computer interface will affect our emotional development and seek innovative solutions to live seamlessly with technology without giving it to much power. There is so much to learn and do in such an ever-expanding field.
As I mentioned, I have been teaching myself coding skills, primarily through encountering a problem and google-searching my way to solutions. Often times, I get lost and have to try new paths. The project-based learning that Holberton Schools promises aligns well with the way I view learning. If I want to acquire skills, having a challenge to solve motivates me to learn faster. Moreover, completing a project from beginning to end will teach me the skills to take initiative on developing my own (many) ideas into reality.
Finally, collaboration allows for synergy, the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Working with others has sustained my college experience as I was a proud member of a small co-ed fraternity, Nu Alpha Phi. Working on group projects for labs always felt more efficient and like I had learned more from my peers. Whereas competition can improve performance, collaboration is better. Along with project-based learning, working with others stands out as two unique factors that make Holberton School a place I want to be. Beyond those, having ample opportunities for mentorship from leaders in the field of software engineers provides for invaluable resources at students’ fingertips.
It may be optimistic to view becoming a software engineer as the panacea to all my concerns on how to lead a fulfilling life. But I believe it, and it’s taken me a while to get to that point. It may be that too much of the SF fog has infected me with the idealism of a start-up tech culture, or, it may be that technology is the future and I want to grow as it does.
