Why Did I Decide To Study Software Engineering?
Hello, my name is Jeremy McNeal and my journey into Software Engineering began about 25 years ago.
Growing up, I always had a fond interest in computers and how they worked. From an early age, I found myself dismantling my parents’ desktop just so I could have a better understanding of how everything fit together. As I’m sure you can imagine, my parents weren’t super thrilled with my “science project” of sorts, but it was that one moment that ignited my path into all things computer-based.
As I got older my interest began to shift from hardware to software. My first real introduction into coding came with the background designs on MySpace. Back when MySpace was a thing, someone had created a code generator that would allow you to input your own background picture, change the page layout and give it a nice font. It wasn’t much compared to today’s coding marvels, but the thought that a string of variables and “gibberish” could alter a webpage so drastically was enough to draw me in! I found myself decoding the code line by line and making minute changes just to see how it affected the overall structure. It wasn’t long before I got a general idea of the concept and began to use the code as a basis to design my own backgrounds and friend/family members as well.
From there, things started to get interesting. I began experimenting in Command Prompt to get the computer and found a whole new world to explore. This ultimately became my first real “side-hustle” in college being able to fix crashed computers and recover lost data. Then the first Android phone came out and my life was forever changed…
With it’s open source format, I dove headfirst into a world I never thought possible. I started off small with rooting my Android devices to flash new ROMs on them. From there, I partitioned my hard drive and downloaded Ubuntu in order to attempt to develop my own app. It wasn’t much, but I was able to design a game similar to snake that I could play on my phone. I became so engrossed in the realm, that I went down the rabbit hole of attempting to design my own ROM. While it never amounted to anything more than a bricked phone (I used an old one I didn’t need anymore), the experience was challenging and fulfilling.
I’ve always been the type that is looking for something new and exciting to learn and master. I find one of the greatest and most challenging things about Software Engineering, and coding in general, to be that it is ever-changing and constantly evolving. It’s as if it’s a living organism actively adjusting to new circumstances and the thought of always having something new to learn in this field is what draws me to it and will continue to keep my focus for years to come.
