All About Me
Short version:
I was born. I got older. Now I lead people
Long Version:
Growing up in a small town, I always knew I wanted to write software, but I had no clear path to get there. Unsure of where to start, I focused on doing well in school and eventually enrolled in a Computer Science program at a community college. By a stroke of luck, I landed a job as a Junior Developer at a collection agency. Recognizing the value of hands-on experience over a degree, I made the difficult decision to drop out of school and dedicate myself to my career. In hindsight, this was the best decision I could have made—no student debt, and my experience has more than compensated for the lack of a formal degree.
Interestingly, I never aspired to be a leader. I just wanted to be treated the way I would treat others and to have a leader who genuinely represented me. Eventually, I realized that the only way to achieve that was to become the leader I was searching for. Today, I’ve built a successful career and now give back by volunteering as a mentor at a local university, where I help students build their skills and prepare for real-world jobs by creating software for nonprofits in the community. It’s ironic—a college dropout now helping students develop the very skills that will launch their careers.