Hello! My name is Barrett Anderson, and as of 3 months ago, I had never “coded” anything in my life. And until 3 weeks ago, other than the first few lessons of the boot camp, had 0 experience with this.
About 10 years ago, I was finishing up my college degree, and had started to become more interested in computer science and software engineering. At the time, I hadn’t taken any classes, it was probably too late to switch majors, so I continued down the path I was on. I entered school with a fair amount of credits from running start, ap, etc, which meant that I quite a bit of space in my schedule, and I made the most of my liberal arts degree. I ended up majoring in Theology, and had quite a few minors as I had the flexibility to take classes and learn other things I was interested. I took classes in Spanish, French, Hebrew, Greek, Peace Studies, Sociology, Psychology, English, and maybe more? I’m getting old and I forget things.
After graduating I have worked in youth ministry the past 10 or so years in the Seattle area. I worked in mostly intern, then interim roles. 3 years ago, I started working in psych and worked on an inpatient, crisis stabiliziation for children as a pediatric mental health specialist. There, I learned so much about behavior, mental health, skills that help us people to be healthy, support systems, coping skills, and the list goes on. Even more, I learned about what it looks like to work on a team, that could be pretty intense at times, give feedback, was dynamic and intentional, creative in seeking for solutions to better provide care for patients and families.
So how did I get here? I have felt the pull more towards software engineering, as quite a few of my friends have gone into and work in the field. As I talked to them about what work looks like for them, working on a team towards a goal, what type of skills they got to hone and use through out the day, I felt more drawn to this path. I didn’t want to go the route of another university degree which would be 2 years minimum, and at this point in life, am wanting to get into the field and start working and not feel like my life is on pause, and push play as quick as I could.
So why programming? Great question 3 people that read this blog. Our world is increasingly moving towards the opportunities that are provided in “Tech” and the myriad of manifestations of this world. Whether this is in health care, education, traditional tech companies, so much revolves around the ability and need for software. In this, I am excited about not only learning these skills, but how it looks to teach and train others who might have the skills/passion for it as well.
I am at the base, a teacher. I find so much joy and excitement when I get to teach others, helping to scaffold ideas, systems, and how to help them engage with them tangibly and how this plays out in their everyday life. So much is new for me, as someone who had never coded and had only a faint sense of where this might lead. And still, what this is going to lead to still feels unknown, and although I know so much more than 3 weeks ago, I know this is only scraping the surface. I am excited to continue to hone these skills and approaches, along with so much else that I am still to learn, and see how I can use this meet the needs of the world (is that too much to hope for? maybe. We’ll see).
Barrett