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Truthfully, being a web developer didn't cross my mind when I first wanted to work in the field of technology. I immediately wanted to work with video games and be a level designer or story director. I feel like I always have stories and plot lines in my head, so the thought of bringing that to life through a video game was my biggest dream.

Still, I knew that if I wanted to work with video games, I had to start somewhere. When I was doing research for a coding bootcamp, I came across many job titles that graduates would land and a common title was "Web Developer". After doing more research into what a web developer actually did, it seemed like a fit for me - particularly the frontend side of it, because I would be able to get my feet wet with technology while still giving me the sort of creative freedom that I desired.

In my coding bootcamp, we went over the most modern practices out there. At least, that's what my class instructor said. In a matter of days, we learned HTML and CSS. For the rest of that week, we learned about functions and JavaScript, and how to build functions using JavaScript. We also went over GitHub and the importance of version control. We then went over Node.js and learned about Express.js and EJS. For the backend aspect, we learned about PostgreSQL and the importance of making queries to a database to pull out information from APIs. Bringing the course to an end, the class became full stack developers when we were taught React. We were told that we were now PERN full stack developers.

When I got hired at Tech 2U, I felt like I took a major step back in time. It turned out that the senior web developer coded in ways that my cohort was trying to replace. He comfortably coded with PHP and AJAX, which are much older coding languages compared to the Node.js and React that I had learned. Instead of PostgreSQL, he used MySQL. While my cohort coded in VS Code, he would code in Notepad++. There were so many differences between what I had learned in my class to what I was actually applying in my work however, I was eager to learn even more languages than I knew before as I knew that this would benefit me in the long run! I proved to myself that I could code with a modern stack, and if need be, I could adapt and code with older languages.

I have to admit, the road to a technical career was very rocky for me in the beginning. Growing up in a strict Asian household, I was pressured to choose a career in the medical field. When I expressed to my parents that I wanted to work with computers and electronics while majoring in Software Engineering, they believed that the only job I would land would be an electrician. They immediately told me that I could not take any classes regarding technology. No matter how many times I tried reasoning with them, it was always a stern "No" while my words went in one ear and out the other. As long as I was living under their roof, I had to abide by their rules. It had gotten to the point where, every semester, they would check my college classes and tell me to take off any classes that even sounded remotely technical.

Fast forward to the middle of 2020 when I was unemployed and stuck indoors from the lockdown because of the pandemic. Times were tough, and I felt myself wondering what my life had become. I figured that instead of letting the days pass by, I could finally pursue my dreams of working with technology as I was already moved out from my parents' house; free to do what I want for myself. So I did research on how to get into the technical field and discovered programs called "Coding Bootcamps". From there, the rest is history! If you want to know the full in-depth story from here, you can find it on my "Education" page.

I wasn't able to do much with technology while I was in high school and college, but once I moved out and was no longer under my parents' roof with their rules, I sent myself to a coding bootcamp to further pursue my love for technology. To read the whole story in-depth and with a complete timeline, simply click on the "Education" page on the left.

When I graduated from my coding bootcamp, the pandemic was still in full force and lockdown was still in place. It was hard for me to land a job in the tech industry as many companies were still trying to survive with the little amount of employees they had left. Still, I persisted and kept applying endlessly. Even when I felt like my imposter syndrome was right about everything, I still made sure to apply.

Eventually, I was contacted by a local company in my area named Tech 2U. They had just started their web development team and needed a frontend developer to join on. After a phone interview, assessment test, and an in-person interview, I was offered the job. I have been working with Tech 2U since July 2021, first as a contractor, then as a part-timer in August 2021, and then officially as a full-time employee in October 2021.

My ultimate, absolute dream job is to work for a video game company, preferrably one of the big gaming companies like PlayStation or Nintendo. Truthfully, I've always wanted to design an entire story-based game since I grew up playing so many video games. I loved the feeling of escaping reality, getting immersed into the world, and feeling like I was truly the character that I was controlling. I feel like I've played so many games that I know what would make a great game. Of course, that's all talk, because I've never created a video game aside from a project for my coding bootcamp. Still, to direct, create, and bring a whole world of my own to life? That's the dream.

In fact, I believe that all the gaming that I've done is what's to blame for all of these stories I have in my head. When I was in elementary school, all the way up to college, I used to write short stories. None of them were ever published, of course, but I remember writing so many story lines and plot points down. I would have pages, upon pages of just rough drafts for these stories. Some of them would be half completed, others would have full fledged, beginning to end, story lines with characters and everything. I even had a sequel planned for one of them!

To take any one of my story ideas and turn it into a video game, that would be my ultimate goal in life. Maybe it'll be achievable in the future, but for now, that's just a dream. I know things that grand aren't possible in a day, which is why it's important to have short term goals, long term goals, and an ultimate life goal.

Over the years I realized that I started collecting games that I've always wanted to play, but never got around to actually playing them. At one point, I wondered what I was going to do with all of these digital games. For those who may not know, digital games are locked to a single account and cannot be traded or exchanged like physical copies can. It was then that I remembered some of my favorite YouTubers saying things like, "I never got to play this before, so I'm finally able to now!" and how much I enjoyed watching them play some of my favorite games. Using it as a productive motivator, I told myself that I was going to have a gaming channel too. That way I could become a content creator while playing my favorite games - and if I were big enough, then I could get paid to play games! What video game fan wouldn't want that?

It wasn't until I found out how intimidating YouTube was with all of their restrictions that I would just cut out the video uploading portion of the plan and only stream live. I wouldn't have to worry about editing videos, dealing with uploading times, and the strict copyright strikes. I would be able to interact with viewers right then and there and play the games I've always wanted to play. It was definitely scary at first, but after doing this as a hobby for a few years, I've come to make some great memories and even a couple of friends along the way.

I've been streaming ever since then. Not with a set schedule, but still with all the fun.