June 2017, here I am pregnant, tired, and frustrated at the state of my career. It was almost 3 years being without either a job or a career path. I wondered to myself, “Is this all there is to me? Am I stuck here?” I was so so confused and sad. I came to the conclusion that I had to change this narrative. I started out by drawing out action points and timelines, one of them was that by the end of June 2018 I must have a clear cut career path. But then, what were my options? I had tried a series of career paths over the years and they were short-lived! Then in my head, I was like why not Software Development? I shrank in fear! I am not smart enough I said. I remembered my university days and how I struggled with programming concepts, in fact, I failed my programming courses terribly! Why will I venture into something I have failed at? But why do I feel so thrilled at the idea of pursuing a career in this path? I finally thought it over and finalized, I will give another shot at Programming, if I still didn’t understand it then I would strike it off. At least I would know that programming was not for me (so I thought). I did not take another step until I had my baby and she was 3months old So I started research on different programming languages, which I could start with. I took Codecademy’s Python course, then I heard about Codelagos,( an initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Education aimed at making coding education accessible to Lagos State residents) I enrolled for the free python class and took the lectures. To my amazement, I enjoyed learning how to code.i found It challenging and so interesting. I wrote python codes every day, at every opportunity I could! Then I started building stuff, How pleased I was with myself! Me! writing scripts?? I was very happy! And so began my journey to the world of Software Engineering.
So Fast forward to November 2018, I saw a twitter post advertising for the role of a Female Senior Developer. I considered the thought and decided that even though I wasn’t anywhere near the role, at least I was a female developer (Lol) So I humbly jumped on the thread and asked if I could apply for an internship role. (Worst case, it’ll be a no! But then I’ll know that I took a shot at it)
I got a reply saying that there was no opening for an internship. Amazingly, someone else also replied to my message informing me of an internship role opened for female developers and asked me to DM my interest if I wanted in. Waawuuuu! I sent a Dm immediately! I received the details of the tech company and I was asked to send in my CV which I did. Some days later I was invited for an interview, I didn’t do badly at all. In fact, I was surprised at how well I understood and could answer technical questions.
By the following month, I received a call that I got the job of an intern Software Developer! Words could not explain how I felt!
This is a summary of how I started a fulfilling career in software development. In the course of my journey, I decided to specialize in front end software development.
I won’t say my journey so far has been a breeze, but it has been exciting. The learning curve was initially steep for me, but I kept at it, learning every day, my commitment to keep asking questions, reading and reviewing codes, and my resolve to get better. Plus, I have met amazing developers that literally held my hands and taught me how to write clean codes in HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, and REACT.
Although, I am still a very long way from where I want to be, however my progress so far overwhelms me with pure joy!
So, there it is! I hope this post inspires someone to be a better version of themselves and make a move to be better!