My Road to Becoming a Software Engineer (& Why I Started Code Newbie Chronicles)
Hi there. I’m Ebony Hargro, a full-stack software engineer. I began my coding journey formally in 2020, but my history with programming actually started in 2018.
I took my first computer science class in undergrad my senior year and dropped it after one day because I was so intimidated. I ended up switching into an animation-based web dev class that taught me HTML, CSS, and an animation software called Alice. Surprisngly, I thrived.
I ended up being one of the top performers in the class, winning a prize for my animation project, and thoroughly enjoying what I was learning. I still didn’t consider myself capable of learning “real” computer science, though, so once that class was done I put everything I learned in a box in my mind labeled “cool but useless stuff to know that I’ll never use again.” That was the end of my relationship with computer science. Or so I thought.
I’ll spare you the details about each step of my professional path after that (check out my blog post if that story interests you). But years later, I’m a new software engineer without a computer science degree and I am excited to discuss my lessons learned with you.
Wisdom-sharing is something that has brought me so much personal fulfillment since I was a kid. For my high school IB final project I created a “survival guide” to prepare black middle school girls to start thinking about high school, grades, and college prep. I’ve always believed in the power of opening doors. I grew up without much mentorship and had to figure many things out for myself, and this blog is my way of making sure one less person in the universe feels alone in pursuing their goals. Think of Code Newbie Chronicles as kinda like my “software engineer survival guide” except that I hope my experiences help you thrive.
Sending love to you on your journey!
Ebony