I stumbled into the world of code…and it was the best thing ever

So this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down and I’d like to take a minute just sit right there I’ll tell you how I became…a freelance (front-end) web developer.

*drops mic*

It all started with a few projects during and shortly after university. I had set-up a few blogs using some standard theme templates but found I quickly grew bored and restless with the limited options for customisation. I wasn’t keen on spending much if anything at all which ruled out the option of buying premium themes (a common factor in a lot of my acquired skills!).

So eventually I started tinkering with html and css code to customise my websites (many thanks to Google, Stack Overflow and the rest for the amazing resources all available at my fingertips). Fast forward a few years at which point my quest for customisations led me deeper into the world of front-end code. I soon set up a new website for a business venture of mine and found my desired customisations quickly exhausted the capabilities of html and css which then led me into the world of Javascript. I got stuck. Big stuck. This was a whole new level of complexity that I struggled to wrap my head around. So after some time I decided I would find a formal course I could enrol on to fill in any gaps in my existing knowledge of html and css and help familiarise myself with Javascript. I somehow stumbled unto the Code First Girls beginner’s course. At the time I was working full time and enrolled on a postgraduate course to qualify in my day job. Because I was a student I was eligible for the free (my favourite word) course. Yay! It was only 8 weeks so I figured despite me starting a new role and already studying towards my postgraduate qualification, my strong organisation skills would help me weather through.

Fast forward a few months more to early last year having realised how much I enjoyed the challenge involved in building a website, I decided to work towards being a web developer so I could build websites for others. So I embarked on my own project which would eventually lead me to bring this very website to life. As exciting as it all was, I found I quickly hit a stumbling block and lost major motivation. For months I just couldn’t bear to even look at code.
Then one day (stay with me on this) a friend of mine posted up a maths problem (an equation) she needed help with on her social profile. The maths geek in me revelled in glee at the chance to solve it; I even forfeited some of my nap time (this is a big deal in my world). It was like I was back in school again, doing the subject I loved the most and having fun. I eagerly submitted my answer and to my surprise was informed that just one other person had solved it. Of course I was shocked – you mean to tell me there were only two of us that relished such a wonderful opportunity??! Anyway said other person was a good friend of mine who had been a developer for about a decade. I connected with her to muse over our mutual delight in solving the aforementioned maths problem. It was during this conversation I truly understood why I enjoyed coding so much, how I could be good at it and why I should push forward. One simple word: maths. The logic and problem solving I loved so much all in one. Had I known about this career option early on I may well have made decision to follow this route as my primary career! In any case a seemingly random and unrelated event inspired and spurred me to push forward.

Fast forward some more more months later, a LOT of late nights pulled as a result of being fully engrossed in code, getting stuck on said code for weeks on end, getting demotivated, figuring out the solution (thanks to help from friends, Google and prayer (no joke)), and going through the same cycle all over again, I did it. I built a couple of sites including this one by myselfs and went official with my web development services. Despite the challenges I absolutely enjoyed the process and for me this makes it all worth it. If you had told me 10 years ago this is where I’d be I’d have laughed but here we are. Sometimes what you think you’ll end up doing and what you actually end up doing can be wildly different. It’s never too late to discover new skills, interests, or passions. Life is definitely strange and unpredictable. I have no idea where I’ll be with all of this further down the line but I plan to follow this path as far as it’ll take me and I’m certainly enjoying the journey in the meantime!

So that’s the story in Balamory. Check out some of my projects here and stay tuned for updates 🙂

Ps – guesses for which 90s sitcom inspired the intro in this post? If you know, you know. Leave a comment below!

All my best,