Holberton Application

Software engineering is the career I should have pursued from day one. My father is a former Green Beret, and after using a PC at work, he had to have one in the house. Thus, before I was even in school, I was punching in DOS commands off the cheat sheet my father left stuck to the monitor. I’d like to say Reader Rabbit kicked off my love for computers (I was an insatiable reader)… but likely, Descent had more to do with it. I always tried to learn everything I could about computers, and everything else in the world. I’ve never lost that drive to figure out how EVERYTHING works.

In elementary school, I was in every Gifted and Talented program possible. When they shut the program down, I became so bored that they found a volunteer to teach me the basics of LOGO. I can still remember how mind blowing it was to see that little turtle drawing out fractals! My handwriting was so sloppy, they actually let me use a word processor for my regular classes after realizing I could type faster than anyone else could write. Computer camp one summer was one of my favorite experiences, and I learned some BASIC and HTML. I eventually home schooled through high school, and you could probably guess by now that I did it online.

Everyone around me assumed I was going to be involved with computers at a professional level, except maybe me. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe a mixture of fear of failure and trying to rebel against that certainty, but after high school I managed to try everything else. I went to a local community college, and took an Emergency Medical Technician course, and loved it. I worked and volunteered for a small town 911 EMS service for almost five years. The high stress and low pay eventually drove me out of the medical field, and I went to Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. I did extremely well. I went from knowing very little, to having the highest grade in over half of my classes and 99.9% attendance, completely from that drive to learn everything I possibly could. Something most students there lacked, looking for answers handed to them from instructors who were just trying to get to the end of the day.

I found work as a technician before I even graduated. Unfortunately, it’s a poor career. I went from constantly learning, to changing out the same parts, performing the same routine services. And the pay was awful. The promises from MMI turned out to be hollow as far as job opportunity goes, and the debt ridiculous. I learned a lot, and I can’t say I regret it, but I wouldn’t do it again.

Now, I’ve been spending my free time (when not working 6 days a week) learning Javascript, and I’ve remembered why I loved computers in the first place. Coding is like learning another language, with infinite possibilities, and working with computers comes so easily to me. I feel like a kid again; it’s the same feeling I had back when I first learned LOGO. It’s something I’d love to do for a living.

Finding Holberton gives me the most hope of changing careers I’ve found yet. I’ve looked endlessly at coding bootcamps, but I can’t shake the feeling that they’re much like a trade school that just want to teach you the bare basics and snag your money, with little regard for your overall outcome. The way Holberton has a vested interest in turning out quality students, and the prospect of working with peers who are just as engaged and interested as I am, makes me extremely excited to even apply. And the idea of being a well-rounded engineer, and not just learning the most popular code of the day, gives me faith it’d cement my future career.