Taking back my life
I’ve never believed in myself. Anyone who knows me will tell you this, and to that end, I’ll skip all the meat in the middle and say — that’s it, I’m going back to school. So, true to form, I’ll use this platform to record and archive the stuff I’m studying at Flatiron School.
Why am I doing this?
It’s simple. When I decided to go back to get my bachelor’s degree at the age of 33, I had no clue what to expect; I just knew that I was a lifelong learner and the desire to pursue my interests was like the need to breathe.
Once there, I realized very quickly I would not make any money in my chosen degree path: Art — and my family was NOT in THAT kind of tax bracket. Looking back, I realize my academic career path is a history I’ll need to hide from my child someday. Regardless, I eventually decided to pursue my degree at DePaul, and that decision came with significant and painful losses.
He handed me a 3" book that had the letters HTML on it.
I needed a job while at Depaul. After doing a bit of research, I decided I should get involved in working with faculty. I was always good at teaching folks how to do things, so why not pursue something I loved.
A few months into my job, my manager at the school’s faculty lounge asked me if I would help the Law Department create something that would load word-like pages, but it wasn’t like using Word. There was a server, and you had to put things on it...
This time, there seemed to be something urgent in the way he was speaking. This was typical of Jobin, he was excited about some new tech, and he wanted the team to get involved, and for the first time, he’s asking me to get involved. I sat up and really paid attention.
Jobin explained that to make this work, I should learn this thing called HTML, and it would really help market our new team to members of our academic community at DePaul.
It was that moment when I realized why my colleagues didn’t appreciate me being there — I was a technological lightweight.
See, and that’s where it all began, I explain to my family. If you want to place to blame for my tech obsessions, it all started with tech research.
Through the incredible mentoring from Jobin, who helped me understand that I can do anything I believe, and Yosef, who installed a love of teaching and taught me how to be socially engaged and morally responsible for my actions no matter the intent.
So, I Got Cancer
In late 2015, I left my six-figure job as a senior-level SWE because the abdominal pains had become so severe, I was almost mentally and physically incapacitated.
It wasn’t until Spring of 2016 that I was able to get an accurate diagnosis for the lump on the side of my stomach and the upper abdominal pain I’d quietly endured for more than 10 years.
Many doctors I visited in Florida told it was everything from a hernia to one doctor stating I would have to get used to lumping on my stomach's right side. He also shared that not many women my age have such a flat stomach and are in great shape. He assured me no one would notice the relatively small lump since my stomach was so flat. He declared this after sending me in to have an MRI of my upper torso.
I didn’t bother telling him why my flat stomach nor how much weight I’d lost because it was painful for me to eat and digest anything.
Several months later, I’d arrived at Dr. Keith’s office, convinced I might have IBS or something. However, Dr. Keith suggested I have an immediate colonoscopy and made arrangements to get the care I needed.
I was 48, unemployed, depressed, about to have a tube shoved up my butt, and living in Fort Myers Florida. How much more hell can one woman take, right?
To keep my mind occupied and maintain my sanity, I began creating mock tech projects using technologies I’d been reading about but never had the time to explore. Besides, as I learned at DePaul, I chose to write it out, study it, and determine what I’ve learned.
So, I’ve decided to go back to school. I have no clue where this journey will lead me, but I have absolute clarity on what I want to do for the first time.
