Growing up, I taught myself how to code in C++by modding and building add-ons for Wolfenstein 3D. It became my entire world, and I would spend hours sifting through code, working out what made it tick, borrowing books from the library and following along to build my grasp of it all.
I didn’t become a developer for one simple reason; I didn’t have one singular passion. I wanted to do and build and make so many things. I was a budding designer as well as a would-be programmer, I was playing drums, guitar and screaming in a series of hardcore punk bands, I was painting skateboards on commission for my friends, and I was spending hours every day writing, blogging and communicating.
For me, there were so many pathways into being a maker, that I wouldn’t and didn’t dedicate myself solely to coding as the path forward; at the time, I didn’t believe that choice would put me at any kind of disadvantage. I saw the value in everything I did outside programming, from the aesthetics of my design work to the clarity of the messaging that I could write.
It would be years before I’d learn that everything I was passionate about beyond code would be somehow considered “soft skills”. And when I learned that, it took the wind out of my sails. I hated that my inability to produce code meant that the skills I was bringing to the table weren’t important. Weren’t valued. And couldn’t open the door for me.