Environmental engineering, in my case, but only because I love the outdoors and I enjoy working in renewables (edit: also, see * below).
I went to school for environmental science, and I love the people in that field (they tend to be more outgoing and emotionally available than your average tech worker), but I was a really terrible student and couldn't find work in the field. I ended up doing web work for renewables companies & conservation groups instead, which was vaguely satisfying in its own way, but not very impactful. And also very commoditized. My main selling point was being a "good enough" dev who could do OK work for below-market wages, with a focus on small biz and nonprofits.
I'm hoping to train as a civil or mechanical engineer instead, and work on some of the non-code infrastructure that powers our world. It's not as glamorous, but at least it has some (tiny), measurable real-world impact.
My hope is that it'll pay a living wage while providing a satisfying work life. I don't have a super-clear idea yet of what it's like... gonna start with some community college math and engineering courses and try to figure it out from there, while also coding part-time to pay the rent. I'm nearly 40 and I guess I figured it's as a good a time as any for a midlife crisis :)
I never wanted the glitz and glamour of tech work -- I started web stuff back in the 90s, as a kid, when it was still HTML and no CSS or JS -- and I really don't like what the industry has become (antisocial and parasitic, largely).
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* Oh, also, I was in no small part inspired by YouTube engineering channels like:
It's just so cool that they can take similar principles as software development -- the step-by-step algorithmic nature of design and testing, plus real-world variables -- and turn them into real-world, useful things instead of ads and spyware.
I went to school for environmental science, and I love the people in that field (they tend to be more outgoing and emotionally available than your average tech worker), but I was a really terrible student and couldn't find work in the field. I ended up doing web work for renewables companies & conservation groups instead, which was vaguely satisfying in its own way, but not very impactful. And also very commoditized. My main selling point was being a "good enough" dev who could do OK work for below-market wages, with a focus on small biz and nonprofits.
I'm hoping to train as a civil or mechanical engineer instead, and work on some of the non-code infrastructure that powers our world. It's not as glamorous, but at least it has some (tiny), measurable real-world impact.
My hope is that it'll pay a living wage while providing a satisfying work life. I don't have a super-clear idea yet of what it's like... gonna start with some community college math and engineering courses and try to figure it out from there, while also coding part-time to pay the rent. I'm nearly 40 and I guess I figured it's as a good a time as any for a midlife crisis :)
I never wanted the glitz and glamour of tech work -- I started web stuff back in the 90s, as a kid, when it was still HTML and no CSS or JS -- and I really don't like what the industry has become (antisocial and parasitic, largely).
-------------
* Oh, also, I was in no small part inspired by YouTube engineering channels like:
Practical Engineering https://www.youtube.com/@PracticalEngineeringChannel
Real Engineering https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR1IuLEqb6UEA_zQ81kwXfg
Veritasium https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHnyfMqiRRG1u-2MsSQLbXA
SmarterEveryDay https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6107grRI4m0o2-emgoDnAA
It's just so cool that they can take similar principles as software development -- the step-by-step algorithmic nature of design and testing, plus real-world variables -- and turn them into real-world, useful things instead of ads and spyware.