I didn't learn to code until I was 25.

I was a data analyst and I worked in Excel a lot. I discovered recorded macros, then viewed the source and boom, code. I was excited, thrilled and curious.

What was this magic I just discovered?

Once I realized how much I liked this coding thing I started taking online and night classes at the local community college and got a job doing tech support at a small local SaaS company. I worked 24/7 between raising my 3 year old, working full time and working on my computer science degree.

It was incredibly hard and lonely at first but I was determined.

After I worked in tech support for 6 months I was promoted to a Business Analyst and started designing the software UI/UX and writing painfully long use case documents. (So glad waterfall went out of style.)

Skip forward another year or so and I had finished my degree and desperately wanted to move into a development job. The company I worked for used ColdFusion which I wanted nothing to do with so I had to look elsewhere. I ended up getting a call about a job in QA. I had been looking for a while so I decided to take it. Only because in the interview I told them that I wanted to move into development and they were not only excited about that but also supportive.

I knew the QA role would be my ticket for my first dev role.

After 3 months in QA I moved into a development role. I had to build in some pretty awful technologies at first but eventually I got to build new apps on stacks of my choice. It was a great place to work because I got to work with many different stacks and languages. I would create the entire app from the ground up. The experience there was invaluable and I feel lucky that it was my first dev role.

Even though it was a great place to work. It was hard, always. I was the only female and only jr dev on the team. To make it worse I had a different title than the other devs. It made me feel like no matter what I wasn't a real developer, even if I was doing everything (and more) that the other devs did.

That which we cant change, we endure

I have wanted to quit
I have wanted to scream
I have felt stupid
I have felt inadequate
I have felt belittled
I have felt like I don't belong
I have felt like I am not good enough

Seven years from the start of my coding journey and now I have my dream job, love my career, but I have days where I feel everything above still.

You have to be strong, you are strong, and nevertheless, we do and will continue to code.

Everyone's story is different, and that's what makes you awesome.