It’s been a while since I’ve written a new post. Wyncode cohort 7 has successfully graduated, and we are currently deep into job search mode. After 9 weeks of intensive 12 + hour days learning how to code, I am absolutely certain I want to become a software developer.

It’s been a whirlwind of constantly learning new concepts, figuring things out, and solving problems. This feeling is very similar to my decade’s worth of experience as a professional musician; the same parts of the brain seem to be stimulated!

This past weekend, a group of us from Wyncode travelled up to Fort Lauderdale to participate in the ITPalooza Mobile App & IoT Hackathon powered by AT&T. We hacked away for 24 hours, with minimal “naps”, and ended up tying for first place at the end of it! That experience, alone, of working together on a team, figuring things out, and creating a tangible app that can be used one day confirmed to me that I can do this, and I really want to continue doing this.

We were even in the Miami Herald !

Coming from a musical background, I get “oh, we should JAM sometime!” or, “can you write me a jingle?” People seem to be fundamentally unaware that, even though it is a creative field, the classical musician’s brain really functions similarly to an engineer’s brain. We analyze the structure of a piece, a lot of repetition is involved (in practicing and perfecting our craft), and we are constantly learning new techniques in order to optimize our experience. It is also important to communicate effectively with an audience. Coding is absolutely the same. We need to effectively communicate with a machine, as well as with other coders who will need to read and understand what we are trying to communicate.

This is just the beginning of my journey, and I hope that luck and experience are on my side as I move forward in this new career. Keep coding!