Background

I call myself a software developer, but that's not my current title, and that's not always been my role. After graduating from college in the year 2000 with a BS in Computer Science but no experience, I found myself in a role where I was running reports and updating spreadsheets, but doing very little coding. From there, I got myself into a role where I was doing system administrator and configuration management work, but still very little coding.

When I changed companies and eventually joined Vonage, I started in configuration management and soon moved into a business analyst role. Getting into all of the areas of the business and learning about their needs and how to document them clearly was very interesting and challenging. I thought maybe coding wasn't the path my life was meant to take. But in my personal life, I still liked to set up websites for the musical groups that I was involved in - drum and bugle corps and choruses.

As Vonage grew and morphed into a software company, there was more of a need for people who could both analyze and code. I knew that I had to sharpen my skills in order to stay ahead of the changes. So, I completed a frontend development nanodegree through Udacity. Towards the end of the program, I told some of my co-workers what I had been doing, and one of them agreed to let me work on a project. Even though I'm working on backend code, which is not what I learned in the program, the act of going through the course got me thinking like a developer again, gave me some experience with Github and helped me figure out how to learn from feedback.

I continued to code in 2019 because...

It's something I've always loved to do. I want to make a difference by creating things. I'm currently working in backend Java development, and it's very empowering to create capabilities for my team's platform that weren't available before.

I deserve credit for...

Trying things even when I don't understand everything. Learning how to ask the right questions. Being patient with myself when things don't work the first time.

I hope to see my Vonage community...

Create amazing software that will enable businesses of all sizes to be able to connect with their employees and customers.

Thanks...

For taking the time to read about my journey! Looking forward to reading all the other posts as well.