So things have gotten a bit…. challenging to say the least. The exercises from week 2 were EXHAUSTING! I could not have completed quite a few of them without the help of the TA’s… I still have a few to figure out to be honest so we’ll be chatting again soon. I was getting frustrated so to my blog I ran…
To be completely, completely honest some of the feedback I have gotten “professionally” has been discouraging. It seems that my “highly developed” interpersonal skills make me less than ideal as a developer… or so I’ve been told. The general feedback is that I should basically use what I got to advance in my career. I currently work supporting software that is created by really smart people and while I am more than competent at my job it is not the career I envisioned and it would seem that since I am such a capable customer support analyst I should stick with it, possibly go into managing it maybe possibly one day….
I am unapologetically not accepting this fate. Call me stubborn, headstrong, mule-headed or just plain stupid but my dream has always been to build, debug, develop… code and I’m not quite ready to give that up! Even in the midst of struggling to complete these exercises from week 2. I understand I have strong leadership skills, I was raised by a very strong business woman that made it very clear that the only way for us to move forward is if we own what we know. Not to mention a father who thinks I am a computer genius! Being able to code provides me with that freedom of ownership.. owing the knowledge and skills that will follow me for the rest of my life. It is an empowering skill… that coupled with my “interpersonal” and “leadership” skills would provide me with career security. Plus, I’d feel like a BOSS!
I have received so many backhanded compliments I don’t know what it feels like to get a real one anymore.
- “Oh, but you’re so good at answering phones and customers emails.”
- “You don’t really want to be developer, look how they act you have so much more class.”
- “It would take years to learn all that stuff… not everyone can learn to code.”
- “You’ve got a good thing going. Why rock the boat?”
Although, my confidence wavers… I am at the point that IF I can make this final payment for the ACLTC bootcamp… YOU’LL HAVE TO THROW ME OUT!! I can always go back to answering emails and phone calls if ultimately I fail, right?
