Success is a Habit
14 Dec 2018We are what we repeatedly do. Success then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle
So I started going back to school, again, at the age of 46, for Computer Science at my local community college. The current semester just ended and I got an A in Computer Science I and CalculusI. CS used C++ as the programming language. We touched on objects and classes but did not have to use them on the final programming exam. We did have to use functions and an array to calculate a loan schedule on a vehicle based upon user inputted data. I got a perfect score on my implementation.
I am also trying to learn as much as I can on my own and that includes writing this blog post in Vim. Completed Vimtutor and now trying to use it as much as possible. In addition, I have been taking Harvard’s CS50 via Edx. So far I have completed ps0 and ps1 and listened to all of the lectures. I now at least know about C (and C++ from school), Python, SQL, Flask, JavaScript, jQuery, JSON files, and of course HTML/CSS.
In the last couple of months I have also purchased a used 2010 Macbook and upgraded it to High Sierra, started using iTerm2, zsh, and ohmyzsh. For school programming we were using visual studio but I switched to XCode on my Macbook. Also learned how to compile and run C++ programs from the command line using g++.
Been very productive over the last several months and I am incredibly proud of myself but the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know. But when you love to learn it’s not an issue.
So why am I doing all of this? Well I could fill several blog posts with the long of it, but suffice it to say that at the age of 46, and with almost enough college credits to make two bachelor’s degrees, I still don’t even have an Associates degree. A few changes of majors and starting and stopping school over the years and a plethora of bad decisions has led me to where I am today. I have a good job that pays the bills, but I don’t think it’s a secret that it’s not a job I’d like to be doing for the rest of my life. For one thing, I work 12 hour night shifts and have been for the past 10 years. The older I get the harder it becomes, especially when you have a wife and kids. I would like to one day work in Computer Science or Web Development either at my current company or somewhere else that values my experience and knowledge. But I have no idea if I will ever be able to get hired anywhere as a junior developer at my age but I’m doing this anyway because I love it and just because.