A multi-faceted journey
My life has completely changed since I took of on this journey on May 26th of this year. I work very long hours at my job, and most nights I would spend the evening watching Netflix and doing not much of anything. I wasn't growing as an individual and I was never challenged. This just wasn't enough for me; I want to leave this planet having known that I was impactful in some way with my career, not just another golf professional. I knew it would be difficult to jump into something as complex as web development, but I also understood the payoff would be excellent when I reached my destination. At first, I thought this destination was attainable in a few short months, but I quickly realized how complex this ecosystem really was. Then I thought, as long as I learn the technologies listed in job postings, I would be able to land a job with ease. After much frustration, I started to realize how hard this part of the journey would be.
Learning web development has been the easy part of this process, for the most part. Sure, there have been so serious struggles along the way, especially when it comes to JavaScript, but I can see growth in my skills every single day, and this is so rewarding. I've created a ton of projects that have been so fun to make. Learning things like React, Vue, Node, Bootstrap, and a ton of other technologies are just fun. I can look back on my early projects and see how much I've progressed from those levels, and that's a great feeling. Going deep into JavaScript now, I can see how far I've come with something that's incredibly difficult. It's really awesome to set your mind to learning something, study hard every single day for hours, and get results. I didn't even know what HTML was on May 25th, and now I have a firm grasp on technologies and concepts that are miles more complex than this.
Finding an actual job has been the hardest part of this whole process. This comes with constant rejection followed by glimmers of hope that disappear in the blink of an eye. Just today, I had 3 interactions with potential employers that ended up leading nowhere. I reached out to the founder of a company in the Netherlands who ended up asking if I would be able to work in the Netherlands. When I told him I would love to, but informed him I was in the states, he still said that would be possible. Excitedly, I asked him how I should go about applying, and never heard back from him. Moving on, I was contacted by a local company I had applied with quite a while ago asking if I was still interested in this position. We emailed back and forth, and eventually set up a time to talk over the phone as soon as I got off work. Then, he never called me. Finally, I had another person contact me from a local company saying my resumé fit the background they were looking for in a job I had applied for. I set up an interview for Friday, got all of the details, and was set to go. I started looking back through my emails to try and find information about this job, but couldn't find anything. So, I asked her what the job I was interviewing for was, and she told me it was an account liaison position, or basically a sales job. Of course, I have no interest in a sales position, so I cancelled the interview. All in one day, I rode a rollercoaster of emotions that eventually led to nothing. If I've learned anything from this process, though, it's that you have to have thick skin and let these experiences go so you can keep moving forward. Tomorrow, I could have the exact thing happen, but it will only take one good offer to change everything, so I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Until tomorrow!
