Things sure have changed since the go-to blog spot was LiveJournal - this is definitely an improvement.

I'm Sam and I am starting my journey on my way to becoming a software engineer. I quit my job that I had for over 8 years and opened my arms to the terrifying embrace of the new and unknown. I am attending Flatiron school on the flex program, and it is way harder than I thought. It was definitely a blow to my pride when it dawned on me that this wasn't another thing that I could breeze through with little effort. At my job, I didn't even have a permanent job title because I was in charge of so many things. I was the HR manager, the operations manager, and the IT department. It was stressful as hell, but it felt good to be the go to person - well, sometimes. Sometimes I wanted to shake the person who wouldn't accept that the problem was with THEM and not the COMPUTER.

**"Sam, this website is broken."

"Sam, this printer won't work."

"Sam, I can't punch in."

"Sam, I need you to make an online order form and I need in in 15 minutes. You're not busy, right?**

Have you tried turning it off and on again? But seriously, I ended up teaching myself a lot. I gleaned bits and pieces of security, maintenance, building websites, automation, ect. It was one part of my job that I loved, but I only had Google to teach me, and when I had questions I wasn't always able to find the right answer. My mom would push me to do more, go back to school, but I was always hesitant. I was comfortable, so why shake things up?

Well, after my mom (who had been sick for years with lung cancer) finally passed, I had access to a small sum of money that really made me consider it for the first time. I had run out of excuses, so it was time to nut up or shut up. I left my job, enrolled in Flatiron, and thought it would be a breeze.

I WAS SO WRONG. It had been so long since I actually had to use all of my effort to problem solve, it took a while to dust off the cobwebs. I am definitely behind - I had no idea that even the prep work would be so in depth! However, now I am finding my footing. I am enjoying having to work so hard for the answer, failing a lot until I get the hang of things. I am humbled and loving it. I am determined to catch up to where I should be, and even move beyond that. It's a whole new world out there... "Hello, World!"