People ask me all the time — why do you like coding? Isn’t it really hard? Isn’t the work boring? Do you still have a social life?

Today, I am going to share 5 reasons why I have stuck with coding and why I love it!

1. You are always learning and challenging yourself!

Whether you are learning a new programming language, trying out a new framework, or trying to solve a problem with a new algorithm, you are always stretching your mind. Now don’t get me wrong, the learning curve for coding is pretty steep. However by letting yourself make those mistake and experience those failures, that is when you grow the most. I’ve learned so much by overcoming the challenges that come with coding. Not only does coding make you a better problem solver but it also teaches you patience, perseverance, and discipline. Coding pushes you outside of your comfort zone in a good way!

2. Problem solving can be relaxing.

I know what you are thinking. Like David, how can you say solving problems is relaxing?? When I get stuck on a problem, I want to tear my hair out! Don’t worry, I feel you. In fact, I’ve been there many times myself.
However, my mindset completely shifted when I started approaching the problems and bugs I found while coding from a curious perspective. Instead of talking down on myself and saying things like why aren’t you smart enough, why can’t you figure this out, maybe this isn’t for you, I decided to ask myself better questions. I found myself going to StackOverFlow, Google,
forums, TAs, and professors — and every single time, I would be able to solve that nasty bug or memory leak or whatever I thought was impossible! It’s kind of like being a detective — going to multiple sources, collecting information, and putting the pieces together. The feeling when you finally figure it out is so rewarding!

3. You get to work on exciting projects!

What is cool about being a coder is that you have control over how an application or website or whatever you create works! One of the first software engineering projects I did was a bus app I made in one of my classes. I got to parse data from my city’s transit system to build an app that tracks when buses arrive at each station. Another cool project I created at a hackathon was an app to help match children looking for a adoption family to families looking to adopt. I also created a Spotify for smoothies app at another hackathon. I also created applications for large companies such as Nordstrom and Best Buy during my internships which leads me to my next point:

4. Code opens up opportunities for you.

When I discovered coding, I didn’t even know it was coding. I was using HTML tags inside a game forum to embed images, links, and videos I thought was cool. That lead me into learning web design and using HTML and CSS to create websites. When I entered my first year of college.Then, I caught the coding bug and went on to teach myself JavaScript, Ruby, Java, Python, etc. Combined with my computer science classes, I was able to pass multiple coding interviews to land a software engineering internship role. I also got to travel to different cities to attend programs and conferences hosted by companies. None of this would have been possible if I did not know how to code and I am forever grateful for the endless opportunities coding has given me.

5. You get to be a part of a passionate community.

Sure, most of the time, programming is an individual activity. However, I’ve found my computer science classes to be some of the most collaborative as well. When everyone is struggling and learning something new, people tend to collaborate more with one another to figure out problems together. In the coding community, nobody knows everything. There’s always a programming language, a new framework, a new API, or a new problem to solve and everyone needs help sometimes. Most people I’ve met in the coding community loves helping each other out. Whether that is your fellow classmates or professors or strangers on StackOverflow, people want to help you figure things out. Plus, most people in technology are very passionate about the things they have learned and are open to sharing. I have been able to meet so many talented, hardworking, and intelligent people through coding. The community definitely makes you feel less alone when you get another segmentation fault … cause guess what, we’ve all been there before.