I think I seem crazy at times. I already dedicated 8 years of my life to studying, don’t necessarily think I’m better off for it, and yet I still felt the need to apply to a software engineering course. Here’s why:
Having taken time off work and taking the time to reflect, I realised that there was one thing I wanted to do more than anything, and that is build. I want to make something that will help people. I care about justice and equality and want to have a positive impact.
I always joke around and tell people I’m probably the worst engineer they’ll ever meet. Even though I’ve written two theses on offshore wind turbines, I still wouldn’t be able to tell you how they generate electricity. The things I know I’m good at are maths and logic, that’s how I passed most of my exams.
As much as I used to be pro-hardware and anti-software, because I felt software was an annoying hype, full of people building apps and tools we don’t really need, such as using data to maximise consumption and optimise conversion rates. I’ve come to realise that there is no way around software.
Across all my work experiences, I felt a consistent and pervasive disconnect between software and hardware, business operations, strategy, the list goes on. Technology has so many capabilities, to the point that we’ve come to rely on it for so many aspects of our day-to-day lives, yet I felt like we aren’t using it to its maximum potential in ways that matter.
Being the curious person I am, I decided to throw myself in the deep end and apply to 42 Lisboa, part of a global network of free IT schools with over 50 campuses in 30+ countries, hoping to get a fundamental understanding of how it all works and perhaps one day reach a point that I can actually build something useful.
Of course, I’m not going to lie, I’m also in for the potential of finding a remote job with a decent salary, since my long-term ambition is to move to Southeast Asia, Africa or South America. However, as of yet, I have no idea where life and my series of seemingly random decisions will take me. It feels a bit like flipping a coin or rolling a dice and just seeing what will happen.