My Software Appenticeship Journey

I have had a long, winding journey to becoming a software developer. It has had many stops, detours, and exits. Yet here I stand, embarking again on a journey to become what I have always wanted to be.

I have always wanted to write code. Even as a child, the BASIC programming language looked compelling to me. First it was as a means to design my own video games. I found a lot of resources out there to help me do just. I downloaded RPG Editor and other game engines. I could never, however, quite find the time to do it. Then I took a summer science camp, in which we have to replicate a game using the utilities the instructor provided us. I was able to program the Lunar Lander clone, however, programming Lunar Lander didn't exactly whet your appetite for more programming down the road.

I went to a community college because I wanted to be a programmer that worked on business applications and find employment. While the education was delightful and useful, it was outdated. By the time I graduated, the courses being taught (COBOL, RPG, Visual C++, Visual Basic 6.0) were no longer viable for employment and further skills needed to be acquired to find gainful employment. It's difficult to say that I graduated from a school, yet no inherently that the lessons taught were obsolete in the world that I have been thrust into.

So I detoured. While I still remaining a techie, I moved to computer repair and maintenance and network installation and design, even going to a different technical college to gain a certificate in Cisco Internetworking. Yet the passion for coding continued to whet my appetite. In my spare time, I would try to learn HLA (or high level assembly) or even try to code on a BeOS based operating system. (Aside from the Mac OS, the BeOS was my favorite operating system. It was far ahead of its time. It allowed me to run 64 bit applications on a 32 bit single processor Intel machine. It's graphical interface was superb for its time and its installer was a lot better than the Linux distros of the day.) Being on call 24-7 didn't offer me much time for self study. When the place I worked at eventually closed down, I was stuck, looking for some kind of direction. I drifted from customer service type job to customer service job. The last technical support job required me to troubleshoot software issues and that job nearly fit me like a glove. It felt so natural even though there is some angst initially when attempting to talk to customers.

Here comes COVID the pandemic and I'm thrust into a new paradigm. With my kids home and my wife and I separated, it was difficult for me to maintain employment. COVID also exposed the point that I needed greater flexibility and a better work-life balance in the job that I perform. So I made a pivot: a pivot back to what I wanted to do from the outset: become a software engineer.

I was awarded an Opportunity Fund Scholarship from Fullstack Academy to attend their full stack coding bootcamp, learning full stack web development. I graduated in September 2021. That same month I received a mention to a Develop Carolina fellowship. I applied to many positions, internships, and I was turned away. This January, I started my journey as a Develop Carolina Fellow, becoming a software apprentice.

Being a software apprentice allows me to grow and master the concepts that I learned in bootcamp by being paired with a master software engineer who is going to mentor me from my naivete to my mastery. I will learn how to be a craftsman and be able to design elegant and clean code. , Being an apprentice is like being a white belt in martial arts. You now enough to be dangerous but not enough to know what you're doing and why you're doing it. A master craftsman is someone who has had years of experience in the field and that is willing to impart that wisdom to his apprentice and guide them along their journey.

My journey as a software apprentice is just beginning and Develop Carolina is provided me with the knowledge, support, and mentorship to become a better software engineer. This journey is just beginning. Stay tuned to future updates!!!