WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?

Posted by Ryan Manchester on September 13, 2017

Why am I doing this to myself? After spedning a grueling 5 years to earn a Bachelor’s degree in music composition, why am I putting myself through another rigorous journey to learn programming? I found the answer to be about fulfillment in life. The truth is, I’m not fulfilled by working long, exhausting hours in the service industry. Then, to maintain a strict schedule to create music on my days off when I’d rather be recovering from my day job only serves to drain both energy and creativity. It’s an infinite loop of physical recovery.

I was explainining this to a friend in California, and she noticed the vocabulary I was using to describe how I feel usually (note the loop reference), and she said I ought to give coding a try. To which I responded, no thanks. I’m not about to learn some new skill, get a 9-5 in an office somewhere, and never write music again. That’s selling out! She calmly reiterated the fact that she too once worked in the serice industry while creating music, and it doesn’t work, BUT having a job that is fulfilling and creative in its own right provides space to create and to create more often than just on days off from the restaurant or bar. She then challenged me to research what all this coding stuff is about and just try a few lessons somewhere. After scouring my Google searches to find a program or a lesson that could actually teach me code, I landed here at Flatiron.

I am currently enrolled in the Full Strack Web Developer online program and am not only learning a cool, new skill, but am ENJOYING the process. It’s been a long time since i could say that and I look forward to going out into the world with my new skills.

Until then, here I am learning to love to fail.