1. Coding? Not for me. Or so I thought.
If you had told me years ago that I’d be a programmer, I would’ve done a full-on spit take. 💀 Coding? No way. I wasn’t a “tech person,” I didn’t even play video games. I thought programming was boring, complicated, and definitely not for me. Besides, I had other plans—I was going to do something important.
That’s why I chose Biomedical Engineering. It sounded like the perfect mix of science and innovation. I was going to change the world, invent medical breakthroughs, maybe even get a Nobel Prize. 🚀
Yeah… reality hit different.
2. Five years, a degree, and no clear future.
The thing about biomedical engineering? It’s a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything. I spent five years studying, only to realize that job opportunities were nearly nonexistent—at least where I lived.
So I moved to a big city, hoping to find work. Instead, I found myself hopping between random jobs just to survive. Call centers, reception, customer service—basically, anything that kept the lights on while I spammed my CV everywhere.
Finally, I got a job at a prestigious university, doing research on microscopic image processing. Sounds impressive, right? Yeah, not really. It was mostly me, alone in a lab, staring at images and pretending to “discover” something groundbreaking. Spoiler: I did not.
One year in, I hit a wall. I was lost, uninspired, and completely over it. So I quit.
3. Enter: Web Development. AKA, my “Wait… I can actually do this?” moment.
With time to think, I stumbled upon a video about web development.
And it blew my mind. 🤯
I had NEVER thought about how websites were built. I mean, I knew they existed, but I had no idea that I could learn to make them. And suddenly, it clicked—this was something I wanted to do.
So I went all in. No Computer Science degree. No prior experience. Just me, Google, and endless cups of tea. 🍵
4. The grind: from “Hello, World” to my first dev job.
At first, it was a mess. HTML, CSS, JavaScript—it all felt like a foreign language. But the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.
I coded every single day. Built projects. Took courses. Googled everything. It felt like unlocking cheat codes for the internet. 💻
And then, after just a few months of non-stop learning, I landed my first internship as a developer. 8 months after writing my first line of code, I got a paid job in tech.
Today? I not only work as a programmer but also teach students how to get started with coding—just like I did.
5. Do I regret not starting sooner?
Honestly? Yeah, and I won’t lie—it frustrates me. If I had started coding earlier, I might be miles ahead by now. Maybe leading a dev team, working at a top tech company, or building something incredible.
But here’s the thing—learning to code completely changed my life. It’s not just about the job. It’s about freedom. Now, I can work from anywhere—a cozy café, a sunny park, or even my couch in pajamas (not that I’d ever do that… okay, maybe sometimes). My opportunities aren’t limited by location, industry, or even traditional career paths. The more I learn, the more doors open. And that’s a feeling I never had before.
So yeah, I regret not finding this path sooner. But instead of dwelling on what I missed, I’m focusing on what’s ahead—because the possibilities are endless.
🚀 Moral of the story?
If something excites you, chase it. You don’t need a degree. You don’t need permission. You just need to start.
Because the best time to learn coding? Was yesterday.
The second best time? Is right now.