It started out as a gasping grasp at one last chance to build a career I could hang onto. I was used to being able to throw my high energy at a job and make it work with zing to spare at the end of the week. That was before the bone marrow transplant that saved my life also left me unable to work ten-hour days or rally for an early work day after a late one. I had a job that I loved that could have led to more, but after two-and-a-half years I knew I couldn't keep up with the youthful vigor of the outdoors industry. I had to drop out and find something lower-impact... possibly with benefits. It broke my heart.
So today I am a couple months in to this program called Skillcrush -- an online coding and design program with a friendly, can-do personality. I taught myself HTML as a 90's teenager who needed an outlet. That was back when parents worried about "internet addiction," which I found both hurtful and discouraging. What I was discovering was a wealth of knowledge and conversations with other young people from around the world about all sorts of things that interested me. I found a multi-dimensional form of communication and self-expression in designing my own websites and blogs. Graphic designers were the butt of many jokes in my local community, and with all the talk about the internet being a vice, I never grew my hobby.
I pursued the arts and the outdoors, opportunities to commune with others and live in new places. I went to college in search of a professional life that allowed me to help people while being outside and active. All this started to unravel as my health started to slip and came undone with my cancer diagnosis in 2011. I fought hard, underwent surgeries for a secondary cancer over and over, and eventually received life-restoring marrow from my heroic younger brother. Booted gently back into the working world as a Cancer Survivor, I discovered I couldn't manifest more stamina by force of will. A friend brought me on as a naturalist guide at the tour company he managed, and eventually I found my way into a more administrative role which I enjoyed. Eventually, though, instability from changes in the company proved to be so utterly draining that I just couldn't see myself going any further on the industry-standard low pay and "cool points" for the work. It was a hard truth to face, but I needed to change my thinking about what work and a career meant to me.
I knew I needed to make things, have a flexible schedule, and have opportunities to grow. I bounced a lot of ideas around, tried on a few hats, and all the while looked into coding bootcamps and online web developer programs. I made a bunch of masks and a few paintings with the idea of going to art school, but the cost of tuition anywhere in 2018 was way too high a financial burden to bear. Feeling up against a lot of obstacles, I kept going back to Skillcrush's website and wondering if my husband and I could afford the enrollment fee. They offered a discount for low-income folks like me, so it seemed almost in reach. The program looked different from a lot of the tech-bro bootcamps and I liked the idea of a friendly community of fellow coders and designers. Once I was signed up, I was blown away by what a great program it is and how wonderfully immersive it is. I have been happily at it ever since.
This blog will track my progress, thoughts, and inspo as I continue on my new path as a web designer-for-hire.
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