The Recap
I have been so preoccupied with doing the thing that I haven’t taken time to write and reflect on what I have been doing. So, this is that, a catch-you-up on what I’ve been doing this past year and four months, a summary of the story so far, the “previously on [insert title of show here]”—the recap.
Over the past sixteen months (since June of 2021) I have been working on a career transition from Christian ministry to software engineering. And, I say “working” with much intent here because it has been just that, work.
There are many ways you can go about learning how to program and becoming a software engineer. There is the mostly free track in which you do your own research and essentially piece together your own curriculum. There is the bootcamp track in which you might pay a sum of money up-front and then spend 3-6 months essentially crunching to learn a language or a tool set, create a project and then try to get your foot in the door as a junior developer. Then there is the track where you apply to a college or university to get a 4-year Computer Science degree. These are the typical ways that I know of to become a software engineer.
I have been interested in tech, both hardware and software, since my early teens. So a desire to work in the industry has been with me for a long time. And this isn’t the first time I have pursued a track to becoming a software engineer. I have actually started two of the three tracks listed above before. When I was in college I spent a year and a half or so as a CS major. And in 2015, another time when I was considering leaving ministry, I started reviewing HTML and CSS and learning JavaScript.
In June of 2021, I was faced with the reality that I really didn’t want to do ministry any more but I also had a family to help support. I needed a realistic and proven way forward to a viable career in some field I wanted to work in while also being able to provide some monetary support for my family at the same time. So I looked back at software engineering and I reached out to some friends who are currently working in the industry to discern out this path foward.
On a weekend following the culmination of my realization, my family and I were headed to a friend’s house for a pool party. This friend, John, happened to have worked his way into software engineering and had become quite successful at it. So I asked him if we could discuss how I might do the same. When I arrived we sat down at his kitchen table. He opened his Macbook and typed in a web address. He turned the Macbook to me and said, “If you’re going to do this, do Launch School.”
This was my first introduction to Launch School, a mastery-based, self-paced program that proclaimed to teach the fundamentals of software engineering and all but guaranteed not just a job but a career at the end of it. All of this for a reasonable monthly cost. I was really surprised, not only at the speed of John’s answer, but at the answer itself. I could not wait to get home and dive into the details.
That evening I devoured all of the information on Launch School’s website. The next morning I spoke with Adam, a shared friend of mine and John’s who was currently in a Capstone cohort at Launch School. He explained to me the difficulty of the curriculum and the commitment that it takes to get through it and into the Capstone program. A few months after our conversation Adam would land a senior software engineering role out of Launch School and tell me that it’s “life-changing.”
I was sold. I launched straight into the prep course and then into RB101, the first course on the Ruby track. At the time of writing this I’m in the process of finishing up the third course, RB130. And let me tell you, getting over the hump of the first two courses (RB101–109 and RB120–129) was no small feat, but it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
The community at Launch School is another thing that sold me and continues to keep me here. From answering questions and sharing nerdy, programmer jokes on Slack, to live coding together in Gather Town, study sessions with TAs, and incredibly detailed and positive feedback on assessments, everyone is so supportive and continually pushing each other forward.
While I have been studying at Launch School, I have also been working part time. The church I was pastoring at graciously offered to keep me on part time to manage their social media, run Sunday morning live streams, and keep their website updated. It has been a really rewarding experience to see how the skills I have been gaining at Launch School can be used in my current job. One example is applying the approach they teach to problem solving. Being able to break problems down into steps has tremendous power not only for tasks that I’m personally tackling but also when delegating and teaching volunteers.
Because Launch School is mastery-based, it is a slower path and I don’t know exactly how much longer this will take. I’m hoping I can be finished with the core curriculum within another year, but ultimately my focus is on mastering the fundamentals and positioning myself to not just land a job but start a career.
For more information on Launch School visit their website. (click here)
Also, here’s a great article on transitioning to a career in software engineering. (click here)