“Careers are Made in Hindsight” My Unconventional Path to Software Engineering

I took my very first computer science class (CompSci 101) in undergrad at Duke and dropped it after one day because I was so intimidated after walking into an auditorium of 100+ students. I didn’t understand what was going on in the lecture at all, and I felt invisible to the professor and didn’t even know where to start in asking questions.

I ended up switching into an animation-based Computer Science class that taught us HTML, CSS, and how to animate basic characters using Alice. The classroom setting was much more intimate, the students were mostly non-CS majors trying to fulfill quant reqs for graduation so there was a lot less pressure. I thrived. I ended up being one of the top performers in the class, winning a prize for my animation project, and thoroughly enjoying what I was learning. I still didn’t consider myself capable of learning “real” computer science, though, so once that class was done I put everything I learned in a box in my mind labeled “cool but useless stuff to know that I’ll never use again.” That was the end of my relationship with computer science. Or so I thought.

Fast forward three years to 2020, and I genuinely did not think about computer science once over that time period. I’d transitioned into a full-time research and consulting role and was enjoying project management, though I did always have the itch to learn a “hard” skill that I could own.  My last time going into the office was late February 2020, and it was like the interruption in my day-to-day routine (wake up, commute to work, work, commute home, sleep, and repeat) opened my eyes to the realization that I felt pretty underutilized and unfulfilled in my role. I also didn’t feel as though I had any distinct skills that I could use to make money for myself, and didn’t believe I had a solid path to increasing my earning potential/network value. I felt pretty close to the ceiling on what I could make doing what I did, unless I went back to school to get a professional degree.

For a long time I strongly considered the law school -> corporate lawyer path. It seemed like it “made sense” for me - I majored in Int’l Studies and had extensive writing experience, I was terrible at math but great at public speaking, and I’d been on the debate team all four years of high school. I started studying the LSAT and, while I enjoyed the logic games and that learning process, I realized that I didn’t actually care about being a lawyer. I didn’t want to work in a conservative industry or have to wear suits to work or straighten my hair. I also did not want to go back to school in any capacity. As a first-gen college grad, I already felt behind compared to my peers when it came to wealth building and I didn’t think that post-graduate education was the right move for me. I wanted to keep working.

One day I was scrolling on Facebook when I saw a colleague post about an organization called G|Code, which teaches underrepresented woman of color under the age of 25 the fundamentals of web development for 10 weeks for free. I applied a few hours before the deadline. I didn’t know at the time that this would ignite my passion for programming and catalyze a complete career pivot. At that moment, I was thirsty for skills and wanted something to keep my mind occupied, as the combination of working from home and being on autopilot in my job had left me feeling very understimulated intellectually.

I got into the program and began a 10 week journey of exploring HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript under the tutelage of some of the kindest, brightest software engineers. We met every Sunday morning and had lectures, group projects, and time to get individualized feedback on our personal projects. I gave G|Code my best effort, winning the Curiosity Award. I am immensely thankful for this experience, as it gave me structure in tackling the scary programming landscape, made me feel empowered and confident in my ability to be a great developer, and connected me to an invaluable network of other incredible, passionate code newbies. 

After G|Code, I applied and was rejected from Resilient Coders, an amazing paid programming bootcamp. While I did feel pretty bummed about missing out on this special opportunity, I didn’t let it deter my learning journey. The director of Resilient Coders, Leon Noel, happened to be also teaching a free online bootcamp called #100Devs twice a week. I signed up for that bootcamp, which was a lot larger and less interactive than G | Code. I found that it wasn’t an intimate enough learning environment for me and kept my eyes open for other opportunities, but I followed the classes anyway because I knew momentum was key in my journey.

One day in December 2020, a G | Code facilitator, Rizel, shared an apprenticeship opportunity with my cohort. I applied, went through the extensive application process, and was admitted to the program in January. I now had the opportunity to be paid to continue my learning journey through collaborations with AnitaB.org, Treehouse, and Intuit! I have the opportunity to work full-time as a Software Engineer for an amazing tech company whose mission to power prosperity around the world resonates deeply with me.

I am still in awe at how valuable connections were in shaping my experience and exposing me to life-changing opportunities. I strongly encourage anyone looking to make a career shift or trying to break into tech to find folks with the same goals as you, find mentors, and tell them about your goals!

When asked about which career I wanted, it was always difficult for me to give a straight answer. I knew the qualities of what I wanted to do, I knew how I wanted my career to make me feel, but I didn’t know what my job description would be. This was a frustrating feeling for a long time, until I heard a lecture that reminded me that this ambiguity I was feeling was neither a bad thing nor was it particularly atypical.

I knew I wanted to empower people. I knew I wanted to create opportunities for other low-income black women. In high school my IB project was a high school survival guide which I presented to a group of black middle school girls. I devoted most of my time in undergrad to service, working for nonprofits that empowered citizens to stand up to greedy corporations and for a talent identification program that sought to expose racial biases in standardized testing. Everything I learned from those roles and experiences has shaped me into a better professional, a more knowledgeable technologist. I bring that value and that perspective to any employer I work for.

“Careers are made in hindsight,” said a guest speaker in one of my undergrad classes one day, and those five words really stuck with me. Oftentimes, when we look at accomplished people and study how they arrived at that point, we see only the highlights of their journey. When re-telling our stories, we sanitize and organize our lives into a coherent narrative that relates to our reality. We often forget about the rejection letters. We forget to talk about the one side job we did after graduation that was a complete failure and waste of time.  

One life-changing realization for me has been that the rejections and failures are just as meaningful to my journey as the yeses and successes. And, even further, these failures actually aid us on our path. No matter what you decide to do, remember that your path doesn’t have to be linear and it’s never too late to pivot.

Sending love,

Ebony