Changing Direction

Today was a glorious day.  Like legions of the oppressed who have risen up before me, today I gave notice that I would not be continuing as an adjunct instructor.  Some day, I would like to write a treatise on everything that is wrong with the adjunct system.  For now, however, let us focus on new hope sprouting, incongruously on the threshold of winter.


My goal is to add web development skills to my existing expertise in teaching, writing and biology.  The choice of web development is partially interest-based, and partly practical.  It turns out that writing code is a lot like solving puzzles.  I haven't written anything big yet, but I've been using free tools to train myself in writing basic programs.  I can recreate the Fibonnacci sequence using a simple algorithm, translate a DNA or RNA sequence to amino acids, and create simple games (like tic tac toe). 

If nothing else, I'm learning to use tools that are ubiquitous in our world.  If I only gain a better understanding of why those tools sometimes fail, my time will have been productively spent.  I plan to go much further than that, though.  There is a vast territory of science education that we can make more interactive and intuitive.  Massive tomes of highly-specialized plant identification can be made more interactive and user-friendly.

I'll admit to a certain amount of naked selfishness, too.  People, reportedly, will pay money for coding skills.  At 41, following my interests has never paid much above poverty-level wages.  If I can marry something I enjoy with something that pays me well, so much the better.

Now, the how:

As of a week ago, I am a member of the GoCodeNow.org class of late 2015.  I've spent the last 6 months researching coding bootcamps (as the short-course intensives are called).  There are dozens, and more are appearing all the time.  I picked GoCode for it's focus on python (a language commonly used in scientific computing), small class size (3 instructors for 8 students), and a certain gut-level feeling of 'rightness'.  Most bootcamps are started by motivated and experienced coders who rapidly move into administrative/executive roles while hiring others to do the actual teaching.  When it works well, the instructors are skilled in both coding and teaching.  More commonly, you get one feature or the other.  In the worst case scenario (which is all too common), you get canned video-based lessons delivered to 40-person classes, and interactions are with barely-trained TAs. 

At GoCode, by contrast, the founders are the teachers.  In reaching out to alumnae, it's clear that they are continually refining and adapting the curriculum (this cohort will incorporate more javascript along with full-stack python/django of previous classes).

(As a side note, I reached out to participants in my top 5 bootcamps via LinkedIn and other platforms.  80% (4 of 5) alumnae responded to my request for information.  No other school had more than a single response.  That level of repsonsiveness alone augurs well.)

Did I mention that GoCode is taught retreat-style...in Costa Rica?  I would have had to relocate for any code school I chose (online is an option, but not for my learning style).  The cost of living in Costa Rica is lower than most other locations, even including air fare ($400 RT from Dallas?!  Why haven't I gone already?!)  The school is in a beach side condo on the north west coast.  No commuting, no night life, no tempting cultural events...but plenty of chances to relax between work sessions. 

Yay vacation!  Actually, no.  I checked with the alumnae, and they all agreed that the work was intense - 60-80 hours a week for the 8 weeks in Costa Rica, plus 20-30 hours per week for the month prior.  The point of this approach is to combine hard work with an otherwise low-stress environment.  For me, it was the added element that was attractive.  I've never been drawn to purely practical pursuits, and thinking of this career change as an adventure makes the risk and uncertainty much more palatable.

And yes, my anxiety is through the roof with this.  I'll be finishing the semester out, and then taking off to Costa Rica in the first week of January.  I'll be living mostly on borrowed money and bulding up a signficant pile of debt to do this. When (not if!) I find a junior developer position, I should be in the 50-60,000 range in Dallas.  Even at 40,000, I'd double my current salary and pay back the code school debt in a year.  The bright side of making so little money currently is that my opportunity cost of code school is negligible.  The scariest part, though, is that GoCode is not as directly integrated into a hiring "pipeline" as some other schools.  The previous cohorts of students from this school made it work, though, and I will too.

So.  I'm excited to make things.  I'm excited to escape the adjunct netherworld.  I'm excited for Costa Rica.  Onward!