When Curiosity Became a Commitment

I've always been a heavy software user. My computer was my safe space, and the internet was where I grew up—exploring freely with very few restrictions. Over time, I came to believe that software is one of humanity's greatest tools for growth, making us more efficient and more connected. I wanted to be part of building what I saw as our generation's greatest leap forward.

In early 2018, I started teaching myself web development. I pieced together lessons from YouTube, FreeCodeCamp, and whatever tutorials I could find. (Not to go off on a tangent or anything but I long for this period of time in web development where everything was open source. Website like w3 schools, Stack Overflow, had amazing communities of developers trying to help each other out. Things were available for the internet but it require diligent research and understand software in order find the correct answers. It felt like a hunting game that only provident web surfers could navigate the levels. Nowadays AI can give you the answers immediately. I think that's great but it also takes the fun out of some of it… for me anyway.) Everyone seemed to have strong opinions about the “right” way to learn or which programming language mattered most. I started with HTML and CSS, then moved into JavaScript, leaning on friends and family for support. The more I learned, the more time I wanted to spend in front of my computer—my comfort zone—puzzling through problems and watching ideas come to life.

Eventually, I realized I wanted to take this more seriously. I scoured the internet for classes, read hundreds of reviews, and compared programs. That's when I found Fullstack Academy. They offered an affordable, in-person JavaScript prep course in New York City that focused on computer science fundamentals. It met after work—perfectly timed at 6 p.m. when my day job ended at 5. I jumped at the opportunity.

That short prep course solidified my interest. I knew I wanted to take the plunge and apply for their full-time immersive boot-camp. It wasn't a small decision. The program was expensive, and I'd have to quit my job since classes ran from 9 to 5 every weekday. It was a real commitment—financially, emotionally, and professionally. With some money saved up and the support of my family - I felt ready to take the risk - to pursue something I truly cared about.

When I got accepted, I was ecstatic. For four months, I threw myself into coding every day, surrounded by people who were just as passionate as I was. We joked about it, but some of us were literally dreaming about code at night—only to come back to class the next day and live it in reality. By the end, I had built my first web app: mealdotmatch, a tool that helped people come up with recipes based on whatever leftover ingredients they had in their fridge. It may not have been the most sophisticated piece of software, but for me, it was everything. It was proof that I could build something real, something useful—something that made the computer feel less like just a safe space and more like a place where I could create.

That was the moment coding went from curiosity to calling.