A Self Taught Approach...

I've always been curious, creative, and a tinkerer. As a child, I enjoyed seeing things apart. From Nintendo Gameboys to other video games or electronics. I've always had a curiosity that would enable me to learn more about stuff, and take risks in trying to learn how to take things apart, sometimes modify things, and successfully put them back together.

This curiosity extended through my teenage years and adulthood. I remember being in love with Apple iPods in high school. When one of my closest friends accidentally broke his iPod Video, I convinced him to sell it to me for cheap, so I can attempt to fix it and get it working again. Back then, YouTube was nonexistent, so I didn't have much luck looking for solutions on the internet to fix it. Nevertheless, something is satisfying about fixing things and maybe also getting a good deal on broken things, versus paying full price for the brand new.

The do-it-yourself mentality in combination with growing up in a low-income household also encouraged me to learn how to do basic mechanic work to my car that I drove during high school and college. Mechanics charged an arm and a leg to do basic work, that involved basic tools. My high school girlfriend bought me my first Craftsman toolset from her job at Lowes, and over 10 years later, I still use the same toolset. It has saved me a lot of money on several different cars over the years! And I became much more mechanically inclined, and quicker to troubleshoot whenever things go south.

I remember being in love with coding as early as the age of 15 years. I took a web page class during my sophomore year at high school (2005). It was the first time that school offered such a class, and it was taught for the first year by a Math teacher. His name was Mr. Booth. I also took that class with one of my friends I grew up with in the same apartment complex. That class was so much fun. I remember enjoying having a lot of control when it came to customizing the color, font, and appearance of my assignments. At the time, MySpace was very popular, and most people in high school had an account. MySpace had a feature where you can post public bulletins, and they allowed for basic customization using HTML. So I would sometimes apply what I had learned in class, to make my bulletins and profile stand out a little more!

My passion for coding waned and eventually came back in a full circle. In college, I tried to pursue this old love for coding and endured through Computer Science classes, where we learned C++. Working through several different jobs, while going to school, I wondered from time to time what my eventual career would be. It wasn't until I unexpectedly became a father to a beautiful little girl in 2016, that pushed me to have more motivation than ever. At the time, I was a CNC Machine Operator at a shop in the same town I lived in. It was a manufacturing job, that would've given me good experience with the major I had at the time in Mechanical Engineering. But I knew there could be so much more potential for having a career in coding. I learned front-end development coding in whatever way I could after work, and used online sources such as freecodecamp, Codecademy, etc. Eventually, I decided to go into app making and got my first used Macbook Pro from eBay, to learn iOS development. I took an online Bootcamp course from London App Brewery that I completed at home while working full time.
Meanwhile, I was even able to get a job as a Junior Manufacturing Engineer, and teach myself CNC programming, 3D Modeling, making Engineering drawings, and other Engineering roles!
Lots of time later, here I am now. Completing my development portfolio, showcasing my very first complete iOS app. Also considering which project I should start next to include on here.

I can easily say, being a tinkerer, and being curious paid off. From fixing my cars to teaching myself new skills, learning how to teach myself is so far the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I am looking forward to my future, and what this career has in store for me!