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Jack Cole
Jack Cole

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Why I Became a Software Engineer

For most of my life I had been blindly drifting down the path that I felt was expected of me, the road of least resistance.

Go to college, get a job, live a happy life?

Initially, all was going well. I was accepted to the University of Washington with the hope of majoring in computer science... and immediately bombed my chemistry course.

After two applications and two denials to the CS major I was left with two options. Transfer schools to pursue CS further, or pick a different major.

If I transferred, it would be an acknowledgement of my failure to my family and friends, so I took the easy way out, put my CS aspirations on hold, and chose a new major that I knew I would do well in.

Years later I graduated with my degree in Psychology and was left with the question of what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn't ready to commit to grad school yet so I decided to take some time off and do some introspection.

After ultimately deciding that I didn't want to pursue Psychology and further and bouncing around at dead end jobs I felt that I needed a change.

I hated the feeling of being stagnant, hated that I didn't learn anything new, and hated myself for being too scared to put myself out there and leave my comfort zone.

It was finally time to jump into the unknown and pursue my own dreams and passions instead of trying to become what I thought others wanted me to be.

Why did I become a software engineer? Because I love learning new things, solving problems, finding meaning in my work, and most importantly, being myself.

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