Before I started pursuing software development, I was on track to become a psychologist. After working in the field of psychology from undergrad through graduate school, I learned a lot about myself and where to apply my skills; however, I realized that where I should be applying my skills is not as a psychologist. I found that the interests and skills I had would benefit me more in a different environment, where I could help people through creating something instead of through therapy and counseling.
I have always had an easy time talking to people and a fascination with the relationship between the brain and behavior, and I thought I could take that interest and drive and help people. Then, I learned that having an interest and enjoyment in something does not necessarily mean you should make a career out of it. I realized that I was great with people, but it was difficult for me to manage the “burn-out” of working with people at their most difficult time. The act of creating and sustaining an environment that was open to providing therapy was both terrifyingly stressful and completely rewarding. I found myself in a “sink or swim” situation when I first started my graduate program to become a clinical psychologist, where I learned quickly how to make someone comfortable and understood but I also learned how stressful keeping this energy up will be for my own mental health. It took me some time, but eventually I realized that I had developed a lot of skills in problem solving and communicating and that I could be more useful in another field where I could utilize these skills. Then I found my solution to this ever-growing question of “where do I fit?”, and it was programming.
The change seems a bit dramatic, going from working with people to working with machines. Although, that description is not completely accurate. I am working more with technology; however, programmers are people and the company that a programmer works for is full of people. In order to be a valuable asset to your team, whether that be a team of clinicians or a team of developers, you need to be able to work well with your team. But working with people is not the entire job, to be a software developer you need to know how to code.
After teaching myself a bit of html and css while also in my graduate program, I realized I needed to fully commit myself to learning to code if I was serious about becoming a software developer. Once I received my masters in professional psychology, I left my graduate program to pursue an education and career in software development. And that journey has lead me to the Flatiron School’s Full Stack Web Development program, where I am learning and loving code.
All of my experiences at Flatiron have shown me that I have made the right decision. I feel more “at home” coding and developing apps than I ever did in my graduate program. However, my graduate program did foster in me the ability to better teach myself about a topic that is foreign to me and utilize the wealth of information we have at our disposal online. And these skills have become vital in my pursuit to become a software developer.