So, where to begin…
I was born and raised in rural Cornwall where calculators were still cutting edge and reading was “women’s work”… Not really, but we were pretty much at the back of the technology queue so I didn’t have access to any formal IT learning at school, let alone an IT GCSE. That didn’t stop me messing around at home though. We’ve always been a “techie” family and I learned a lot about computers from my Dad. I think the most important thing I learned young is to not be intimidated; you can usually have a go at things yourself if you’ve done your research and can follow instructions.
I completed my degree in Experimental Psychology at University of Bristol on the basis that it’s what I enjoyed and had a passion for. During this time I thought about teaching myself to code, I even started courses to learn Java and Python a couple of times but never got further in than a few hours. I didn’t have a goal or direction in mind at all I just thought it would be a cool skill like speaking French or being able to flip beer mats.
Straight out of Uni I fell into a job in an accountancy office back in Cornwall. I was supposed to make the tea, answer the phone, do the filing etc. during the Christmas period, 6 to 8 weeks at the most. I stayed for 2 and a half years. During this time I became the office “head of IT” by dint of being the youngest person employed there. I boldly led the team (all 8 of us, total) through software updates, troubleshooted printer problems and dealt with the professional IT company we used to manage our server for us. My greatest achievement was probably convincing the boss to a fairly large-scale upgrade of a lot of the hardware we had, up to and including a DOS machine and a dot matrix printer. They made me keep the fax machine though.
I then moved back to Bristol to formalize my accountancy training. After almost another 2 years of this I began to get pretty burned out from the constant over-work, full time study and intense exam schedule. In January 2019 I made the decision to quit my current job on the grounds of mental health, looking to take some time off (maybe that magical gap-year I never had? But more like 2 months…) and recuperate before getting back on the wagon with a company that I was more suited to. It was during this time that I suddenly thought about what I was doing…
Did I really enjoy accountancy? Was this what I wanted to do for the next 50 years? Was I really feeling fulfilled?
…. No, not really.
Thus began the search for the alternative. My boyfriend Richard was on the scene at this point, working as a game-tools developer for Sony. I also had (have!) a lot of “techie” friends, most working in web development or similar fields. It suddenly hit me: “…why not me?”. I’ve got a passion for learning, I like the creativity that web design offers, being able to build something from nothing really appeals to me, I’d get to meet a diverse range of people and help them out… why not go for it?
Thus, after talking it through with all my friends, getting some industry insight, researching job roles/routes/technologies/tricks and tips etc etc… I’ve started my journey.
To be continued…