Joining the Flatiron School a few days ago is the logic continuation of my coding journey. I began this journey a few years ago, when I wanted to own and develop a blog about ethical fashion, but found myself spending more time styling the CSS sheet than actually writing content.
This is kind of how it started
This takes me back in 2012 when I was starting my career. I was working for an international NGO as an administrative assistant. It was my first job and I was comfortable with any kind of communication tool or software, especially the Office Suite. I liked designing things or applying a new knowledge I would learn through online Photoshop or Indesign tutorials, and I enjoyed being able to help anyone with their Excel sheets, for instance.
At some point I was promoted to database administrator assistant, as the person currently in charge was looking for an assistant. I entered in a complete new world made of a strange language called SQL. I felt like I was introduced in a private circle and started to work and learn as much as I could about SQL, relational databases, UML, and quite a few other stuff, to make sur I deserve the position.
Two years later, my manager retired and I became a database administrator, but also project and product manager in charge of making sure our collaborators' requirement would be implemented in forms of new features. This made me feel a bit pressurised and I asked for a technical training - I wanted to be proficient in code writing as it's seems essential to know and understand how our stack worked - but I got a one year UX design training instead. I enjoyed the training, but was more interested in the UI conception and web design. I remembered the works I made a few years back and started coding again as a hobby.
In fact, I really enjoyed working with the IT and dev teams all along my career, and being at the service of our users. I wanted to belong fully to this group, but at the moment my position wasn't attached to the technical department. However, some of the guys from this department taught me some things now and then, and our discussions at the coffee machine were always about tech news and video games. I was awed by some pieces of work they did, and basically admired most of the developers I met - and this is how and why I met my partner!
This is kind of how it started too...
To say the least, the impostor feeling was strong in any of these positions and I always felt like something wasn't quite right. A year ago, I gave my 2 months notice to move in the UK and start a new journey as a web designer. I started coding for fun, to improve my skills but also out of curiosity for the new technologies I didn't know about yet. I felt free and empowered when building websites, small applications, UI components, and I realised that days were going by really really fast. So, recently, I decided to take the leap and joined the Flatiron School, to fulfill my dream of being a developer.
It took me a while to realise and accept the fact that I was to make a career change, and if I had more self-confidence I would probably have done it earlier. This move is an highly selfish move and it would mean the world if I was to succeed. I am happy the Flatiron School gives me the opportunity to change, although it is going to take time and be an intensive challenge.