From Learning to Doing

This week I was searching for an article to write about and I stumbled upon an article from Codecademy sharing the story of Juan Paredes, a Full-Stack Engineer from Mexico. The article is an interview of sorts where Juan has responded to prompts related to his journey from a Call Center Supervisor to a Full-Stack Engineer.

Juan covers how exactly he got into software engineering. When first moving to Mexicali, Mexico he got a job as a call center specialist. After 3 years Juan was promoted to Operations supervisor where at this point he decided to expand on his love for computers and wanted to start learning how to code through a free course on Codecademy.

After completing the free course, Juan decided to pay for a subscription and before Juan was completed with his first paid course, he was able to find an entry-level developer position. After figuring out that software engineering is what he truly wants to do, he also started attending the Mexicali Institute of Technology and is currently studying to obtain a degree in Software Engineering.

Juan also talks about how limited time and a pay cut made things temporarily more difficult but between his passion and determination, Juan continues to learn and progress.

When the article was created, Juan had just found a job with better pay and benefits than his first position and continues to progress forward in the software field.

Juan finishes off his remarks by recognizing the importance of organization and being open to learning new things as traits that will carry you far in the field. With organization, one can more easily find how to and be able to implement changes and by keeping an open mind you may learn things that while not valuable at the present, could become of great use in days, weeks, or months later on.

After reading this article I wanted to share and reflect upon it since I could relate to Juan. I too discovered my interest in programming through another medium of computers, however mine was video games. I started my journey by wanting to learn how to script in Lua for Garry’s mod addons and after that, I gradually kept learning more about coding. I never saw it as more than a hobby at the time, but here I am today almost finished with my Bachelor’s in Computer Science and preparing to join the workforce soon. Juan’s story serves as a reminder that through determination and perseverance, I can learn and do whatever I want within the extensive computer science field after obtaining my degree. It may take time, but in the end, the hard work will pay off regardless of how hard it may be or how much I would want to give up.

Article Link: https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/from-call-center-sales-representative-to-full-stack-engineer/