A little story 🙄
Growing up, most people had a dream career. Mine was to become a medical doctor. This dream did not change even until as a teenager. I chased after it, doing the right things up until I did not get the pass mark to study Medicine. I got into the university to study microbiology instead. oh no, this was a miss. I would never become a doctor? Well during the first two years of studying microbiology, I still chased after my medicine dream trying to switch departments from microbiology to medicine, which was not successful, despite several attempts. I was so sad about this and later was forced to move on with my life. I continued studying microbiology until graduation.
What changed? 😲
During my final year at university, I had a friend that did freelancing work in programming. I usually asked him questions about it- how he handled different clients' requests. I had this feeling programming was hard and therefore best suited for brilliant people. He, however, encouraged me to learn how to code stating that I would enjoy it that being a female is a plus as it opens up more opportunities. He also told me I could learn on my own. I reluctantly agreed to learn, and he gave me books to read. However, he said something that sparked my interest:
He said many females run away from programming because they feel it is hard. 🤣 He caught me. This was exactly how I felt. I kept thinking about this statement. Well, I didn't find out if the statement was true for other females. But I said to myself : Why would programming be an obstacle to me because I'm a female? I'm going to learn this programming thingy and no one would stop me.
The tech journey began from here. Next was how I was going to achieve my new dream.
Climbing up the ladder 🧗♀️
I had purchased a laptop for my final year project, so this was a sweet way to learn to code. I asked people I knew for help and got a guy who was in the computer department to explain the basics of HTML to me. I also got books (HTML and CSS) from him. I started reading on my own and practising. After a while, though, I took a break from learning how to program to focus on my final year exams. I picked my learning from where I left off after completing my exams. At this point, I was comfortable with HTML and CSS and had started building little projects.
A blessing in disguise 🎉
In the first semester in my final year, I failed a chemistry course I was rewriting for the second time. I cried so much because my mates were automatically ahead of me. I saw myself as being dull developed impostor syndrome. I had an extra year in school, but enough time on my hands, as I was studying just 1 course. That year I made much progress in learning software development. I enrolled for Dufuna-Fem code camp (for females only) which lasted about 4 months. Here I applied most of the things I had learnt on my own and learnt some more- actually a lot more. At the end of the Bootcamp, I got a placement for an internship position in Lagos. Wow, a new phase!.
A new phase 😐
I had to relocate from Ile-Ife to Lagos (Nigeria). I never found it easy but I relocated. From here on, it was clearer to me that I had switched careers. I had to focus on my new career and learn as much as possible. I had trouble fitting into the tech space in the company I did my internship. There was a wide knowledge gap and I did not meet up with expectations. I had to unlearn some things and then cement my knowledge of JavaScript. 🤣 I remember having a tough time with forloop (JavaScript). I just did not get it. I became better day by day, read and practised hard. When I became comfortable with Javascript, I picked up NodeJs and learnt for a whole year, I then built an application which made me better.
Finding Balance ⚖
I wanted a fulltime role after delving into NodeJs for a year. This was not successful, but I landed a role in Technical Support. This never stopped me from pushing harder. I became more fascinated with UI and then decided to switch to React. I started learning React in November 2019. I enrolled for She Code Africa React Mentorship Program the started in January and lasted for 3 months. I improved significantly ar React. Shortly after, I got a React Nanodegree scholarship from Ire Aderinokun to learn React. This lasted for 4 months (June - September 2020). I became much better at React. This month I landed my first role as a Software developer. I'm currently focused on building with React. It can only get better.
Ending the journey soon ??
No, I'm here to stay in tech. The goal is to keep improving. Keep persevering. You would see the results.