bbalfreywrit340

What is software engineering? Describing my job as “software engineering” is like describing a song as “rock.” It could mean a million different things to a million different people. Plus, I hate lots of rock songs (think anything metal) while I love some others (The Rolling Stones). The same goes for software engineering - it means a million different things to a million different people. There is frontend web development, backend web development, data engineering, systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, devops...the list is infinite and infinitely confusing. Coding is the only thing that ties everything together. But even the nature of how/what people code varies greatly from one software engineering discipline to another. The most twisted part of the vague nature of “software engineering” is that most junior level job postings leave it at that - Junior Software Engineer. Under required skills, HR departments usually scribble every single technology that can be used to write...

Originally I am from Ojai, a small town that appears artsy and quirky to tourists from LA but really is a redneck, slow-moving place. Eventually, my dad ended up in Tahoe and my mom landed in Cupertino. I guess I “come” from all over. I am headed to New York to work as a software engineer, but I really have no long-term plans for my life. Quite frankly I don't agree with the notion of making life plans. Nothing ever really works out to expectations. To "get there" in life really just means being happy and having a reason to get out of bed in the morning. So I guess I'll eat healthy, travel the world once the virus craziness is over, and surround myself with good people in order to “get there”. My parents are very different, so in the ways that I'm similar to one I'm very different from the other. The traveling side of me, the side that is pushing me to move to New York after graduation, definitely takes after my mom. My dad hates cities and I still think he re...