Ten months ago I decided to change course into Software Engineering, something I held passion for throughout my life, but rarely explored. In college, I studied Audio Engineering and was a Computer Science Minor because I thought coding could be something fun to try out. However, my advisor advised me to switch minors as having a Music Business minor would allow me to take more Audio Engineering classes, and valuing his guidance I did eventually cave and make that switch. However, before the switch I was taking classes in Java and other languages, and those classes really stuck with me into my adult life in ways I could have never forseen. Even in my successful audio engineering career where I worked within Grammy-winning teams, my mind was always drawn back to coding. I wanted to know how the software we used worked, and I was always the first to volunteer to learn how to do audio programming in video games (something that required the audio engineer volunteer to go home and learn how to use a coding middleware to add audio files) because I actually liked the coding aspect. It wasn’t a chore for me like it was for some of the other engineers, and pretty soon I had a Udemy library full of basic coding tutorials and languages I was playing at in my free time.
COVID put the industry I loved at a standstill, and the long hours (sometimes 16+ hour days) required in live music burnt me out of some aspects of working solely in sound. However, I never lost my passion for the music industry, and as the industry halted in many aspects, I decided to learn programming to refine a skill I had a passion for, so that I could serve the industry I loved in an entirely new way.
I didn’t exactly know what I was signing up for all those months ago when I signed up for Flatiron - all I knew was that this journey was going to be tough but rewarding if I could withstand it, and learning programming languages was going to take hours of work daily to really refine those skills. I was hesitant at the time because I own a mixing and mastering business that also takes a great deal of my attention and time every day. I thought it might be grueling at times balancing the two and though I can’t say in complete honesty that it was easy every step of the way, I know this industry is right for me because even when it was hard, I still enjoyed what I was doing. I don’t think anyone who didn’t love coding could finish this program. The hours it requires of you every night are not hours that someone who was not fully in love with this art could withstand. I’m glad I took the leap into this program even if I was scared at the beginning, because these ten months have changed my life and given me skills I’m proud of and can’t wait to utilize in the workplace. So even though I definitely didn’t sleep as much as I would have liked to these past ten months, a few cups of coffee and doing something you enjoy really are all you need.
I’d like to end this journey by sharing a fun little personal way that coding has already improved my life, even before I head into the workplace. The COVID pandemic has isolated all of us in ways that none of us could have ever forseen, and it has been incredibly difficult for all of us to be away from our family and friends to an extend no one would have ever wished. Every year my friends no matter what is going on in our lives have gotten together for Halloween to play games and compete with each other in a Harry Potter themed “House Cup” where we try to play games and earn points through various ridiculous games, in order to be the winners at the end of the night. This year, we didn’t hold that House Cup because we value the safety of each other more than a social gathering, but in my Flatiron journey I made a Harry Potter themed trivia game that allowed houses to compete. Though it’s not exactly an application that will revolutionize an industry, it served a purpose in giving a way for friends to play games for each other and feel connected, even apart. I think that’s what I love about coding. Everything we make has an impact and purpose. Maybe we’ll be coding huge websites that will be used for millions of users, and maybe we’ll be making websites that serve a purpose and allow people to access information or resources that in some small way make their lives better. Whatever the future holds, every project we undertake matters and the internet brings people together, and I think in the next few years, bringing people together in new and creative ways is so important and I’m honored to have an education that will help me do that.
Thank you Flatiron