It's been a while!
A few years ago, I said that I wanted to become a full-stack developer. At the beginning of my journey of learning to code, everything seemed so exciting to the young me that was grasping front-end web development very easily. I believe at the time, the trajectory to becoming a Software Engineer seemed straight forward and fitting for me.
After months and months of journaling, listening to podcasts, and then finally graduating in May with a Computer Science degree - I realized that I was wrong!
Luckily, I was never wrong about my decision to break into tech. After experiencing the craziness of a Computer Science degree after getting a Kinesiology degree - I realized that I want to combine my experiences. I had to ask myself many questions:
What causes do I want to contribute to the most? - Causes in relation to health - or Public Health.
Would I feel fulfilled doing software engineering for just any company? - no. Unfortunately, I would not feel fulfilled if I jumped into a fintech company or something similar.
What are my true passions? - Technology, Exercise, and Health.
What do I remember the most after reading a piece of text? - Things that my brain are truly interested in. Statistics, numbers, research results, graphs.
What do I read and engage with the most? - Health articles, actually.
I came to the conclusion that I should strive to continue my tech career - but in the healthcare industry. At least, that is the end goal - and I will do whatever I have to take to get there. Working with data is definetly part of the puzzle I am putting together. There is also health informatics - which I had never even heard of until a friend of mine went back to school for it after graduating. A whole new world opened up for me. It is possible for me to leverage knowledge from both degrees - because in the end I put my heart and soul into both.
My Next Steps
The job market is insane - and navigating it has been one of the reasons why I have had to sit down and really think about what I want to do with my life. I began to do what I do best (probably why I am chosen to do this at my current job the most) - RESEARCH.
Currently, the software engineering field is oversaturated. In order to break in, I’d need to be the best of the best. But can I be the best of the best at something I am not 100% passionate about? Some can - but me? No. There was a time where you could be average and still make it - but that time seems to be over.
I began to do some research and found lots of volunteering opportunities I can apply to. I found some unpaid internships. Some may say that doing unpaid internships is a bad idea, and that future employers will look down on it. However, with the current market and lack of actual entry-level jobs - I think it is smart for me to do so on top of the job I already have. In fact, the unpaid internships I speak of are under non-profits that contribute to important public health concerns that seem to be neglected - such as maternity health of black women.
Ofcourse, on top of this, I will be taking advantage of the Verizon Skill Initiative that is giving me free access to Harvard courses on edX, coursera, and the endless knowledge on the internet to help me learn and build projects that will help me stand out from others in the job market. I plan to document all of this on this blog either weekly or twice a week - because I want to prove to someone out there that may be in my position that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!
So enough rambling - it is time for me to get to work! All that matters is that I do not give up - and that I dedicate myself to my ultimate goal - becoming a Data Scientis in the Healthcare field. Ideally, contributing directly to the health of the community and scientific/medical research.
The Plan:
- Take online courses
- Complete data analysis projects for my portfolio
- Volunteer for organizations utilizing data for public health purposes
- Apply for data analyst jobs, maybe Americorps
- Get a masters in a Data Science degree, preferably one related to health / health informatics
I am excited to take you all on this journey as I push forward through this crappy job market and switch gears towards a very interesting career.
