My Journey from a Pharmacist to a Software Engineer
I know, I know, its been a minute since my last post but to be fair I wasn’t just chilling. This post leads me to what has been keeping me busy and why.
I recently just completed a software engineer bootcamp at Flatiron School here in D.C about a month ago, so now I’m in the job search phase. I can already hear those that know me saying, “ah Kosi, you’re a pharmacist, what are you doing at a coding bootcamp?”. Refer to the image before please…keep reading.
Let me just take you back a few years so we can see how this seed was already being planted without my knowledge. It all started my Junior year at Temple University( best university eveeerrr!) when I was studying at the Engineering library, a girl came to my table (her name was My) and asked me if I wanted to come to a NSBE chapter meeting, mind you I was very familiar with the organization because my brother spoke highly of his chapter at GWU. To be quite frank, I had no business being there as it was mainly for engineers and computer science majors but my major was Human Biology a life science. I was curious so I immersed myself in that part of the world like for real, I became treasurer for my chapter and attended annual regional conferences (shout out to Region 2- Twooooooooo Hyyyyyyppppeeee!!!!….Yoooouuu Knoooowwww) I was very active. I pretty much was introduced to a world of Black engineers that I wasn’t aware of, not just that but black female engineers. Growing up I never saw or knew of female engineers, let alone black ones but here I was surrounded by them and I was amazed. I really wanted to switch my major at the time but I was so close to graduating and I’d already been accepted into Pharmacy school so I couldn’t go back. Young Kosi had a one track mind and I wasn’t ready to veer off the path I already put myself on which was Pharmacy, so I pretty much did what most African parents do… you project your dreams and visions (pretty much the ones you didn’t get to accomplish) to your offsprings. I decided, since I couldn’t do it then i’ll introduce my children to STEM early on so they could go that route.
Fast forward a few years, I have already graduated from pharmacy school, got a really cushy job, was it the best? Not really but I was paid well and I was very comfortable — so engineer/technology never crossed my mind UNTIL 2017 when I was at a hair salon and while I was waiting, the lady in the chair asked a question. “If you could be one thing in the world, what would it be?”, “An engineer”, I replied. At that point I assumed the conversation would end there but she proceeded to ask me, “well then what’s stopping you?” All the excuses came to mind, “ I don’t want to go back to school”, I have a decent job that pays well”…the excuses just went on and on and lady wasn’t having it, she encouraged me to pursue what it was I wanted to pursue, I had no reason not to. I still didn’t think I was bold enough to make that move but like we have all heard the saying “growth happens outside your comfort zone”. After that encounter the thought never left me but it just remained a thought for 2 more years until I got laid off from my job as a pharmacist. Funny enough the week I was to be laid off I went to see an old friend and somehow God led the conversation to where she shared with me her journey to where she is now.
I was inspired even more and she encouraged me to not settle. Sometimes we are not aware how much we lose by settling ( Shout out to TD!). Back to the gist- when I got the call I literally laughed. To some its probably the worst day but for me it was blessing. I believe God had to do it because I didn’t have the courage to get me out of my comfort zone. When that happened I immediately knew what the next step was because the seed had already been planted and God was preparing me. God had to kick me out of my job, if not I would have settled in a place that was no longer bearing me any fruit. My time was up in this profession and staying any longer was me settling. It wasn’t easy to convince my husband but I am thankful for his support during this time because my goodness it was nerve racking . But I knew I was at the end of my rope with pharmacy and it was time to make that move not only that I knew I had to answer to my children (if they are anything like me they will be asking a lot of questions) if they were to ask me why I never pursued that STEM route I was gonna push them towards.
With the dawn of the new year 2020, I prayed about it and I began the research of how to go about transitioning. I was at a friends house, who was also a pharmacist, and she mentioned her acceptance to bootcamp for UX/UI at Flatiron and I came across their software engineer program and I was sold. I started the free bootcamp to get an idea because up until that time I had never touched a line of code in my life. Once I completed it I applied to the program, not only did I get accepted but I got a full scholarship to the program! Won’t He do it!! It was a tough 4 months but I pulled through!
Now that I have completed my program it hasn’t been easy at all but I’m confident that it will be worth it. So why did I make this switch especially after gathering all these degrees? A friend once told me it’s ok to have more than one dream. At 7, I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist, I remember vividly making that decision and I just stayed the course. But a part of me felt like I couldn’t change my mind, I thought I would be letting myself and family down but its all good. Now that I have accomplished that I can take that greatness and accomplish even greater things in technology. I trust that I’ll find a way to combine both realms, pharmacy and technology, because let’s face it… technology is everywhere and I want to be a part of that. One thing I love about being a software engineer is you can never get too comfortable or you’ll remain stagnant. There are new technologies everyday so you have to stay up to date, it can be overwhelming but like all things you learn to adapt and find a way to stay relevant. Another great perk I love is a great work-life balance and flexibility especially when a family is involved. I’m just thankful that when December comes and I need to travel home it won’t be an issue lol.
If you made it this far you are the real GOAT and thank you! To wrap this up, I’m thankful for making the transition now and I know I am still in the beginning phase of my journey but with everything in life you have to keep pressing on and trust the process. It is never too late to make a switch, the only thing holding you back is YOU. To be fair, I can’t take all the credit, I didn’t just wake up one day to and decide this. As you can see from my story this manifestation was years in the making, and I am thankful for the people who I’ve met along the way who encouraged me to dream big and not be afraid to take on new challenges so Thank You, you know who you are and thanks to my husband because without his support….iono but we here tho!!! I also had to do it for the ones coming after me, my children, I can’t teach them to dream big if I couldn’t do it myself
I want to leave you with this…No matter where you are don’t ever stop dreaming. Dream big and don’t limit yourself. God didn’t have us in this world to just stay ordinary! Mmmk!
Another thing I need to say is to pay attention to the people you meet even if it’s for a second or even someone you knew in a past season that found their way into your present. God speaks thru all avenues. I hope I can be light to someone who’s holding on so tight to what’s comfortable even though their heart is elsewhere. It’s ok to have another dream.
Also here’s a demo to my final project here. See I was busy 😂
Originally published at http://codedbyfaith.wordpress.com on December 2, 2020.
