Think back to your earliest memories. I can think of a young kid full of curiosity and imagination. Full of questions like: “What do I want to be when I grow up?” This is a question that many are familiar with. The cliché response to this is usually “an astronaut”, “a firefighter”, or “a policeman”. Is it possible to really know at such a young age what profession you want to be in? I am not much of a philosopher, so I will not speak on that. What I can tell you is why I decided to make the switch into a career in Software Development.
- Love the Pain
At a young age, I have always loved a good challenge. Software Development is just that. HTML is responsible for all the content that we see across the web. CSS makes that content look more appealing to the eye. Both HTML and CSS are easy enough start off with.
Javascript, on the other hand, can be a bit more challenging as you start to combine the key concepts. Yet, the dynamic web pages that are possible with Javascript, and other object oriented languages, makes it motivating enough to keep debugging, to keep coding, and to not never give up. The delayed gratification from taking up this challenging journey is a feeling to be longed for.
- Love to Create
I love creating things that I or others didn’t know either existed or was possible. In middle school, I created (or set up) my family’s Netgear wireless router. In high school, I was busy creating the perfect “kickflips” during summer break. Today, I am creating pages on the internet that never existed before the thought came up in my mind. The point here is not to toot my own horn, for I have much to learn, but I believe this innate ability and desire we all have can be an extremely powerful force for good. This leads me to my final point.
- Love to Help
Since the beginning of time, humanity has been looking for some sort of real purpose in life. This is true for the single mom’s hustling to put food on the table for her hungry kids, all the way to the marine biologist that documents his life’s work for the benefit of those after him. Software Development is that thing that makes me think: “where have you been all my life?” To know that the work I do as a developer can actually help the future is immensely satisfying.
The world depends on technology more than ever before. We can thank all the developers who work behind the scenes who make these things we know and love possible. Perhaps not just one single developer can make a big difference, but collectively we are making a difference and hopefully making the world a better place.