Reflections on my journey from physics to software engineering

Hi everyone,

My name is Angie, and I’m 28 years old. I graduated in Physics in 2019, and this is my first post to introduce myself. (I couldn’t help but start singing to myself, “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…”)

From as far back as I can remember, I always loved to study. As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a cardiologist, inspired by someone who greatly influenced me. I worked from the age of 15 to pay for my education, but unfortunately, I had to abandon my dream of becoming a doctor and started to explore other professional paths.

After high school, I began studying Chemical Engineering, which I soon realized wasn’t what I had imagined it to be. I stayed in the course for just over a year and then decided to pursue one of my biggest obsessions in life: studying the Universe. That’s why I chose to start my degree in Physics.

As a young, innocent, and positive person, I dreamt of studying the Universe and making significant discoveries in that field. I applied for a research fellowship at my university and worked there for almost four years, but it wasn’t in the Universe field. I studied Non-Linear Dynamical Systems and published four articles in scientific journals, which was a great accomplishment.

However, I didn’t like how theoretical the field was, and it made me realize that I didn’t enjoy studying things that were little or almost nothing practical.

After I graduated, I found myself in a very confused state of mind. I tried a few things until, with the help of my psychologist, I decided to try the tech field. It was terrifying because I always doubted myself, but I’ve always been hardworking, so I decided to give it a try. I’ll talk about why I chose IT in another post.

I started studying on April 05, 2022, and on December 12, 2022, I began working as a software engineer trainee in a Brazilian company.

I know I have a lot to learn, a lot to improve, and an enormous highway to walk through. But that makes me so happy and excited about the future. I truly believe that I’ve found my professional path, and I’m eager to do my best.

Living through this process is incredibly rewarding, and I hope to become better every day.

See you soon.