Why this? Why now? Career Change. Going back to my roots!

Ever since I was a little kid growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, I’ve always been into computers. Shocking isn’t it? I built my first computer when I was about 12 years old (I’m 39 years old at the time of this blog lol). AOL wasn’t even mainstream yet. I remember when I got my first 1MB floppy drive. I was so excited to be able to play the very first Bards Tale and of course the ever so popular Trucker that was all text and no graphics. Do any of you remember it? The good ole days!

Fast forward to college where I went to DeVry Institute of Technology (now known as DeVry University). I got my Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications Management and graduated the semester AFTER the whole Telecom industry took a dive! Many people were being laid off from their jobs after many years of experience. So what did that mean for me? It meant people with years of experience were taking jobs that recent graduates should be getting. Those experienced people were also taking pay cuts just so they could have a steady income. I don’t blame any of them at all. I was searching for tech jobs that I liked in hopes that I would land a career in computer networking. Then life happened...my first child was in the “oven” and I wasn’t able to travel anymore. That also limited the jobs I accepted since I would now need health benefits. My dreams of being a Network Engineer or Project Manager had to take a backseat.

Now I am where I am today after some stints with telephone support for GE and Comcast and doing private security. I got into something else that interested me and that is helping people in need. I really enjoy my career in Emergency Medicine as a Paramedic. I started off as an EMT honing my people skills, geography, patient assessments and the occasional mentoring. I did that for almost four years until I got my Paramedic license and started working in the 911 system for one of the biggest Ambulance companies in the U.S. in a really busy system. I’ve been a Paramedic now for two years and seven months and I still enjoy it to this day. However, I’ve also started feeling like I need to have a backup plan in case I got injured on the job or something else happened where I wouldn’t be able to go back to working as a street medic. Well, it was a no brainer that my backup plan would be something to do with computers whether it be Networking or becoming a programmer. I would be happy with either one. I’ve been away from the game for so long though, that I need to refresh myself on a lot of things. I thought about it some more and decided I wanted to concentrate on becoming a full stack software developer or web developer. Which brings me to the title of this blog - Why this? Why now?

Computers has always been one of my joys growing up. It’s the type of job where it won’t feel like a job. It would be a job where I would be getting paid for something that I love to do. It’s one of those jobs where I would be able to work from an office or even remotely. Right now I’ve got two kids in their early teens. One of the things I would LOVE is to be able to watch them grow and be around them more. What I want for them are the things I couldn’t get or couldn’t have. I don’t want them to worry about not getting into the college or school that they want to go to because it costs too much. I want to be able to show them things or take them to places that we would never be able to go to because we don’t have the money or because I have to go to work and don't have enough time off accrued. That is my why! My why is because of them. I want to be around for my family and not have to worry about hurting my back on the job because a patient decides to do something that causes me to tweak my back. Or worse, something else happens to me where I may not be coming home or get seriously injured. All of those are possible and are a reality.

Emergency medicine and helping people will always be something I love and enjoy doing. I don’t know how the “Old Timers” are still doing this without any injury or some other minor thing. But my fall back has always been something in computers and I.T. Besides @rabeccaann told me she would probably give it a go with coding. My goal is to become a full stack developer. I am currently taking classes in web development while still working full time thanks to Udemy. They are very awesome and have a great platform for learning. If you’ve ever been interested in learning how to code for yourself, I highly recommend Udemy.

For anyone thinking about a career change and thinking about some sort of web or software development, I encourage you and cheer you on. You’re never too old to learn something new and we are in the age of technology. My IT instructor, Alex Tan, once said, “If you’re sleeping for more than four hours, you’ve slept too much.” That was his way of saying the tech industry is changing all the time. Just keep on learning because you can never know enough. Keep coding on!