Why Software Development?
Welcome to my very first blog post as a student of this new cohort in the online section of the Flatiron School’s software engineering program. I would like to start this blog post by telling you all why on earth I decided in my early 30s to pursue a career in software development.
I was born on July 14, 1989 in Stamford, CT and was raised in Wilton, CT for most of my life. I attended a number of different schools as a child growing, both public and private and I eventually graduated from Wilton High School in June 2008.
Upon graduating from High School in the year 2008, I attended George Mason University as an undergraduate student. At the time I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do or what type of career I would end up pursuing. But after a lot of trial and error, I ultimately decided to get a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Literature with a minor and certification in Information Technology. I eventually graduated from George Mason University in May of 2013, at which time I moved back to my hometown in Connecticut.
My education didn’t stop there, after taking a 2 year hiatus from school I then went on to grad school to pursue a Master of Science degree in Information Technology from Sacred Heart University. Unlike my undergraduate degree, this program was part time and on a trimester schedule which made it go by a lot faster. I graduated from Sacred Heart University in December 2017 at the top of my class. Still I had no idea what I was going to do with my future in terms of finding a new full time career, which leads me to the next topic of my employment.
Over the past 12 years on and off, I have spent a lot of time working as a Legal Assistant at my family’s law firm. During which time I was able to apply my technical background and knowledge and expertise along with a number of other various skills that I possess to help enhance the firm’s day to day operations procedures. The firm was founded by my late Grandfather Harvey A. Sackstein (pictured in the middle) and is still in business today and run by my Uncle Mark H. Sackstein (pictured on the right), and his partner Eric B. Lee (pictured on the left). I still help them out on occasions whenever they need assistance.
In addition to working at my family’s law firm, I’ve also held a number of various temp jobs in between grad school. My last full time job was at another law firm in White Plains where I worked for a little over a year and a half. I eventually got laid off from that job, and decided to pursue opportunities in another area.
It was at this time and after applying to a lot of other jobs in hopes that I would get another full time opportunity, but to no avail, that I decided to pursue yet another education this time in Software Engineering. I had originally started off with the full time immersive program in Washington, DC and then we had COVID-19 which really altered things a lot and I ended up withdrawing from that one and enlisting in the part time online program which is exactly how I wound up where I am now. My goals for this program are to advance my skills, knowledge, and expertise in Software Engineering, and hopefully obtain a career as a Full Stack Developer in the near future. Hopefully since I’m doing the part time program I can get a full time job and still be able to do the program at the current pace. I look forward to the rest of my time here and learning a lot more in the months to come. Thanks for reading my blog!