Having been a bartender for right at ten years, I love the flexibility option that web/software development brings to the table as a career. Although bartending will always have a special place in my heart, I'm excited to move into a career field that isn't as physically demanding day in and day out but still satsfies that curiosity bug.
No matter the industry, I do believe in always remaining a student of your craft.
Before I enrolled in Ctrl+Shift Code School, I had just finished a voluntary bartender Spirits Certification on BarSmarts, and was preparing to become a Certified Bourbon Steward through the Stave & Thief spirits training program available online. Although I chose to focus on Ctrl+Shift Code School full-time for the duration of the class, I may return to the Bourbon Steward certification training purely out of interest & curiosity. I once read somewhere, "It matters not what you do, only the integrity with which you do it," and that really has been a motto of mine ever since.
Although many think of bartending as "just memorizing recipes and making drinks," it's really been a source of leadership training for me-- teaching me the importance of holding myself accountable, leading by example, and setting myself and my coworkers up for success. Realizing that my mindset dictates whether I have time to help someone who is drowning in the shift's chaos or not, regardless of what else is going on, shaped the way I see leadership as a whole. It's about what you're willing to give, and that notion holds weight in any industry.
In late 2015, I moved from the East Coast to the Midwest as a military spouse, leaving all of my family in my hometown. Although the marriage my move supported has since come to an end, I have learned that life has a funny way of putting a person right where they belong. In the four years I've lived here, Oklahoma has transformed from being a place of solitude and despair away from "home," to now being a new source of strength, identity and belonging for me.
Being a bit of a loner/introvert, I never truly identified with being a stereotypical "military spouse." Because of that, I ventured outside of the typical military crowd to people I naturally had things in common with besides our husbands' career paths, and have since made so many personal connections here in Oklahoma that I never would've discovered otherwise. One of those connections introduced me to training competition dogs, which quickly became a strong passion of mine and I look forward to my schedule again allowing time for weekend club meetings.
I am so thankful for the unexpected turn my life took, and I look forward to seeing where the road leads next.
As a member of the first cohort to pass through this code school, I look forward to marketing myself as an official, newly-deemed web/software developer! Currently I'm more drawn to front-end processes, (UX Design specifically,) but having barely begun to understand what the various options are, I may change my mind in the future. I really enjoy having a goal for how I want something to look/behave, and back-engineering (and currently, actively-learning,) how to make the thing fit my specifications.
My first micro-goal while I'm in the class is to completely immerse myself in the tech world, making connections and surrounding myself with other devs who share the same day-to-day frustrations and enjoyments I'm experiencing as a result of entering the world of web development.