An ending, a beginning: My journey from finance to computer science
First off, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and read these posts, and I hope that you continue to follow me as I share my journey to becoming a software engineer. These posts arelong overdue, but better late than never I suppose, so let me begin with a little backstory!
January 28th, 2016 marks my resignation from my finance analyst role. When I decided to leave, I didn’t have much clarity on what I wanted to do next… or why exactly I even wanted to leave. I just knew it didn’t feel right, and that my interests lie elsewhere. Going against the mature, reasonable advice of pretty much everyone I knew, I followed my gut and did it anyway. It was one of the most terrifying decisions I’ve had to make. Overnight, I went from a comfortable & stable job, to what felt like a state of limbo with zero certainty. I travelled for a bit, learned more about the world, studied, and eventually made it to the summer of 2016, and this is when my journey really begins.
As I sent out hundreds of applications and interviewed with numerous investment banks, I began to ask myself if this is what I really wanted. What’s the point of going from one bank to another, doing the same thing for a higher salary? Just because I had a degree in Finance, was I doomed to spend the rest of my life in that industry? The clarity I was missing at the beginning of the year slowly began to surface. The crux of my self realization was this:
I wanted everything that I do to have meaning and purpose. I wanted to give myself the ability to build things that help people.
I’ve always been tech-savvy, and I’ve always had a head full of crazy ideas. But I realized that the only way to bring any of these to life was to build them myself.
I knew a little HTML/CSS & the basic fundamentals of Java through an introductory computer science class I took in college, but I knew that truly becoming proficient in coding would require an entirely new level of commitment. But I also knew that if I didn’t learn, I’d always be “that business guy” who throws money to solve problems.
So I committed. I dropped the banking applications, stopped sending emails, and began coding my life away. I had no idea where to begin, had no idea how long it would take, and no idea whether I’d be able to pull it off. But I put aside the insecurities and self-doubt and just focused.
And so, the end of one journey became the beginning of another. This self-reflection process taught me a lot about who I am, and what I want from my life. I think it’s valuable for everyone to periodically take a break to think a little about why they do what they do.
This is #1 in a series of articles intended to document my self-taught journey into the world of computer science. I’ll be sharing my experiences and tips that I’ve learned over the past couple of years. Check out #2, how to shut out the noise, or have a look at all of my posts!
