You’ve been deprecated — Thoughts from a Dad in Bootcamp
As a kid I was always interested in computers and technology. I’d built my own computers, taught myself various coding languages and picked up others along the way through school. However, I’d never thought seriously about a career in technology.
After university I dabbled in landscaping, then IT support for a while, but then when my wife found out she was pregnant 6 years ago, we decided that I would become a stay at home dad. We really liked the idea of having one parent be home with our child full time, and found a way to swing it financially. I don’t regret the decision to leave the workforce, and the years I spent at home with my son, now 5, were some of the most rewarding experiences of my 38 years thus far. But when my son started full time kindergarten, I realized it was time to go back to work. I’d been out of the game for so long though, that I had no idea where to start — I just didn’t know what I was qualified to do. That’s when I read about Juno College (formerly HackerYou) in a CBC article and decided to enroll in the early web development courses. I really liked the structure and inclusive environment that Juno created, as well as the opportunity to participate in the Income Share Agreement (ISA). For a single-income family like mine, the ISA can take a lot of financial strain out of the difficult decision to return to school at my stage in life and has allowed me to pursue a passion rather than just finding any job that will pay the bills.
With financials settled, before my first class I worried about the fact that I’d probably be older than most of my classmates. Lo and behold, one of the first things we discussed in class that first week were all the components and practices of HTML (as I understood it) that are now obsolete- or deprecated, and I thought to myself, those are the only ones I know! What was I thinking coming back to school — I’m the one who’s deprecated! But all jokes aside, my initial insecurities quickly fell by the wayside when I realized that most of us in those early classes needed to start from scratch, and that the instructors were there to help. My natural interest in coding was reignited, and I quickly found my stride. I completed all of the beginner, intermediate and advanced coding courses, and am now in my second week of Bootcamp. It’s been an adjustment for my family, but we know it’ll be well worth the sacrifices we are making now.
Just like vinyl records, I’m coming back around (but never really went away). Stay tuned as this old dog learns some new tricks.
