Personal Note: Why I’m Learning To Program

I quit my job, uprooted my life (again) to relocate to NYC, and am now spending most of my waking life staring at my computer. I have a masters degree from an Ivy League institution and I had a career. Why did I drop everything to learn how to program? Why am I at the Flatiron School?

I care really deeply about making the world a better place. I fear I care so much and have spent so much of the l

There are so many problems to solve and so many different ways to solve them. I’ve spent a lot of the last 10 years looking for the best approach to solving these big problems. I’ve collected bits of many many skill-sets from areas such as design, policy, finance, and business in attempts at understanding more clearly what is the crux of these problems and how will they be best solved. For better or worse, this has made me the jack of all trades, master of none.

I’ve gained enough experience and perspective in the world at this point to understand for one, what I like to do and what I’ll be good at, as well as what skill-sets are most effective at solving problems.

That is why I’m learning to program. As far as I can tell, and this is not an guess, I think by learning to program I’ll have the most impact possible on the world. I feel strongly about this and I’m really excite to build stuff that solves problems.

I’m also learning to program because I want to be a part of a world eats and breaths innovation. I’ve had the feeling over the past few years that the tech community is that clique in high school that I just so wanted to be a part of, but I just didn’t fit. Learning to program will be my ticket in. I have a strong suspicion that I’ll find my people there, perhaps making .

There is a philosophy among Rubyists, minswan. It means “Matz (the creator of Ruby) is nice so we are nice.” This is also on of the philosophies of the Flatiron School. We are here to learn a language with it’s own personality and embedded values.