on coding

I joined a startup after graduating from college to learn as much as I could about starting my own company. I became a sort of Swiss Army knife with a variety of skills in research, sales, product development, and marketing. However, I always felt that I could leverage my growing expertise exponentially with a computer science degree.

So, while working, I tried to learn how to program. It was hard to wrap my head around at first, but the more I learned, the more I realized what was possible - motivating me to learn more.

Eventually, I automated a few of my work tasks with little bits of Python code. With one script, I could create a Google slides presentation for use in livestreams that included the most recent stock price data. With another, I could generate performance reports from our Mailchimp campaigns to track email marketing goals.

I was amazed at how many different ways I could apply code. Those short scripts saved time for my colleagues and me, allowing us to accomplish more. Our team of just a couple of people suddenly felt much larger.

After that startup was acquired by a cryptocurrency company, our team was dismantled due to industry-wide layoffs. This was a blessing in disguise, however, as now I could devote more time to my burgeoning interest in programming. The scripts I'd written worked, but they were hacky. If I was going to build a company, I needed a strong technological foundation.

What I knew was from watching YouTube videos and reading Stack Overflow - I was missing the fundamentals. So I signed up for a free online course meant for first-year computer science students. It covered a wide range of topics from a very high level, piquing my interest further. I needed more, but there were so many unknown unknowns that I didn't know where to go next.

Someday I will start my own company. After learning on my own for months, tending a passion for technology, I am now a proud member of Dev Degree, Shopify's work / study co-op.