I started this coding journey with Flatiron around March of 2020, right when the pandemic officially hit and felt that it was a sign to finally go for my long time dream of becoming a software engineer. As bad as this COVID-19 pandemic has been, it has definitely put a lot of things into perspective for me and my family. It gave me and my wife the push to both go back to school and pursue a better life not only for ourselves but also for our two boys. My wife was able to graduate with her Associates degree in Business Administration and is now pursuing her Bachelors degree in Business Administration as well! Well I am proud to say that I have finally passed my final project assessment at Flatiron School!!
I knew that this journey would not come easy, especially with only some basic HTML as my previous coding experience, but man was it challenging to say the least!!! It started off fairly easily since at the beginning of my time at Flatiron, I had just taken my parternity leave from work. I was able to dedicate time to coding and really absorb things since I wasn’t working. Fast forward 4 months, I then had to go back to work as a full time Physical Therapist Assistant and it was pretty difficult to juggle work, quality time with my family and going through the Flatiron curriculum. What made things even more difficult was when my family and I moved apartments. I ended up taking a break and retaking the Rails module because I felt like I didnt grasp it entirely and wanted to make sure I had a solid foundation before moving forward. Being both physically and mentally exhausted day in and day out, I struggled to finished this final project. I honestly should have finished this program a lot sooner, but I guess there’s always a time and place for things right?
I would like to give a little shout out to everyone I’ve met at Flatiron, especially Micah Shute, Nicky Dover, Dakota Martinez and Jennifer Hansen. All awesome cohort leads that constantly guided me and believed in me when I felt like I did not know what I was doing. I want to thank my cohort mates especially Erik Prenzlin, Rachel Padworski and Brittany R. who have helped me a great deal even when I was no longer part of their cohort!
I am proud to say that I will now be a Flatiron School alumni soon and will be looking forward to tackling this job search head on. I am excited to continue to learn new things each day and finally make this career transition and #changethings!