I’m a musician. I’ve been playing musical instruments since I was 3 years old. First piano, then violin, and finally settling on viola. You could say that I’ve been developing software for a long time! Learning to play a musical instrument at a professional level requires taking something inanimate (the instrument) and teaching your brain and body to follow a set of instructions (the sheet music, or perhaps something you are improvising) to make something happen (the music). That means breaking complicated tasks into their component parts, making sure each part does exactly what you intend it to do, and over time, refining your approach to make those parts work more efficiently so they can be applied to new situations. Sound familiar? It’s what computer programmers do.
I majored in music at a liberal arts college, but also took classes in computer programming and engineering. When I was breaking into the world of freelance classical music in New York City, instead of waitressing, I found myself word processing for investment banks. I would grab the software documentation and find ways to automate laborious processes, writing glossaries and macros that would save me hours of wasted keystrokes. When I finally saved enough money to buy myself a Mac, I started to play with a product they included called HyperCard - which was essentially an object-oriented language designed for the visual Mac environment. I used it for everything from planning my wedding to sampling a dog bark and having my Mac woof out the Jeopardy theme song!
A violist/programmer friend of mine suggested I study programming more formally. So, I attended a bootcamp-like certificate program in the city, where I learned to program in C, C++, and eventually write client-server applications with a Java back-end. Then life took over - marriage, two children, and an aging parent. A lot of people were relying on me. I made the decision to keep working freelance jobs in music and then gradually transitioned into private teaching and math tutoring. It kept me close to home, in control of my schedule, and available to my family.
Now my children are grown, and my time is mine again. I will always be a musician, but programming holds the same obsession for me. Whenever I would meet someone in software development, I would become envious and would think back at the wonderful experience I had learning how to program and develop applications. So, I decided that finally becoming a developer was the right path for me. Just a few weeks into the self-paced Full Stack Web Development program at Flatiron, I can say I feel right at home. I can go from writing code to practicing my viola and it feels seamless. In a few weeks, I will be working on my first major project and am quite looking forward to the experience!