Remember filling out a questionnaire at school designed to tell you your destiny?/*I am definitely aging myself here*/ The careers advisor would emerge from their dusty cupboard once a year and administer a thick tome of seemingly pointless questions. And then – ta da! You were told what career you should follow.
I have no idea what career I was deemed suitable for. All I know is that I read the little print out and my brain immediately said NOPE. I found the whole thing overwhelming. If I had known then that my brain didn’t like multiple choice questions with too much ambiguity, it may have given me a little peace. Instead, I embarked on a journey to find THE PERFECT CAREER, with no idea where to start. Having always loved learning and doing pretty well at school, I stumbled into teaching. For over a decade. I was pretty good at it too.
Teaching suited my nuerospicy brain. Constant crisis, chaos and never ending deadlines: my dopamine deficient brain thrived and was calm. In depth knowledge and a passion for a topic – well, let’s just say my special interest is words and puzzles.
But for many reasons, that career doesn’t suit me anymore. Thankfully, I know myself a little better than the girl filling out the career questionnaire. For a start, I know that I love words and puzzles. That is why tech intrigued me – coding is the ultimate word puzzle. Languages, mathematical arguments, documents, architecture. It has everything I love so I know my new niche is out there for me to find. I am confident in my ability to learn new skills. I’ve spent the last year trying out different coding languages and looking down different career paths in tech. This is my study journal of what I am learning. You can see my work samples on http://www.katecodes.thehaywardhome.com