The year was 2020...
First, rewind to 2016.
In 2016, I made my first job change. I went from working on a college campus to working in a church as a resident. The intent was to go to seminary and study theology and counseling and my agreed upon amount of time was 4 years.
Over this period of time I got to work with precious people from all age groups. I welcomed some into the world. And I grieved as other dear friends passed away.
But I began this work to be able to walk with people through life's ups and downs.
I firmly believe we all have our own mess. We all have that 'stuff' in our day to day that eats us up and we need people who care about us who want to treat us with dignity, love, and respect and be a friend to us regardless of our opinions and preferences.
That 👆, is what I had originally intended. I wanted to study counseling. I wanted to enter into life with people and just be a constant person of peace, and presence of humility.
I had the chance to do that but interestingly, and as usual, my plans are not always the best plans.
Pivoting
By the end of 2019, I had been looking for careers to transition too. I had started investigating Business Development Representatives at tech companies. I had looked into becoming a strength trainer. I think there is immense health and value that others can have through training. I looking into nursing, physical therapy, and a few other things.
For me, ultimately, it came down to time.
What potential career could I transition too and make a decent salary, that I also enjoyed.
I had not really thought about coding. But every time my brother-in-law's would come home, they would both talk about coding. One of them was already working as a Software Engineer and the other was a computer science student in college.
So in February 2020, I started learning to code through Codecademy.
Matching counseling with coding
As I tend to do in every area of my life, I only allow certain things to carry meaning/value.
Let me explain.
Counseling to me felt like 'the thing' I was supposed to do. When that started to change for me, I was really struggling with the questions like:
But how will I care for people now? If I want to care for others and their struggles, wins, pain, etc, doesn't counseling make the most sense?
And also identity crisis (plural) of having made my only path in life one thing and then when that was uprooted, I didn't know what to do.
Never in my life, I repeat, NEVER IN MY LIFE did I think that counseling and coding would be wrapped up into one.
How do they do that?
It took me too long to realize this. But what I had made my life mission ultimately came down to this:
To just be a good friend
It doesn't take a career to be a good friend. I can be a good friend to my spouse, family, friends, coworkers, etc. I don't need a job title. I can care about going deeper than mere small talk but also be able to value small talk in a way that shows people I care for them.
Practical care through coding
My background gave me access to many people who do not have the first clue how to do anything technology related. So I get to practice care giving, albeit in a very different way, through coding and building great and cool things with software.
This opened me up to a worlds, conversations, and relationships I never dreamed of.
There are those less fortunate than I that I can teach to code now. Coding can be a way to a better life for many.
I saw a way to help people with things that they truly needed help in and with.
There are so many people doing great things that if they just had a little help from someone with coding knowledge, they could truly impact and serve more of those that they want to serve.
Other things I enjoy about code
I have often said if someone would pay me to learn for the rest of my life, that would be my full time job.
Coding gives me this
When 'people were my work', although I loved it and loved them, it was never quite clear what was happening in my day to day. I know that comes with the territory.
But when I started to experience the quick feedback loop of coding something and seeing it on the screen, I was drawn in like a moth to a flame, the Millennium Falcon caught in the Death Stars tractor beam, like...you get the picture.
The point is, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew how this career field could check all the boxes for me.
We get to create things with language and syntax. Freaking what?! How insane and awesome is this?!
Word of wisdom
All those great things I just said do require words of wisdom.
I love coding. I love the work I get to do.
But there is a daily battle in my soul, what Judith Shulevitz coined the 'eternal inner murmur of the soul', to be satisfied with the work I do.
I often think a new job will be the answer. But the sad reality is there is a daily need to both be content with where I am at and also look forward to where I am going.
So yes, coding is beautiful. I love that we get to use language and syntax and make things appear. It is truly awesome. I would say it gets at a core desire of ours, to create.
But we must be able to be content and satisfied while we also pursue new horizons.