What is your name and position?
Abbie Tuckner, Software Engineer.
What's your background?
I graduated from high school a little over a year ago, completed a coding bootcamp in the fall, and kickstarted my career in early December. DevBootcamp was a blast, I met so many amazing people and became part of an incredibly supportive community and network. I love that I work in an environment where I am always learning and tackling challenges to reach greater heights with my coding skills.
What inspired you to become an IT professional?
I grew up seeing my dad working with computers, picking up the occasional tech book lying around the house, and was encouraged to attend tech conferences. What ultimately motivated me to pursue a career in tech was realizing the social and political change that excellent technology can create.
Please walk me through your day, what do you do at your company?
My days often look like a mix of meetings, occasionally coffee or lunch with friends, writing code, reviewing code, and discussing tech with my co-workers.
Can you see yourself in ten years doing the same thing you do now?
I’m sure that I will always have development as a part of my life because I love coding! Ten years from now I’m hoping to have achieved nirvana between my tech career, seeing the world, and all of my creative pursuits.
What is the best advice you ever received?
Over the course of this past year the greatest realization that I have come to from my own experiences and the encouragement of my instructors and peers is that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. I truly believe that everyone can code, and that is what makes giving back to the community so rewarding. The world of development deeply values collaboration, sharing knowledge, and persistence through difficult problems. When I am feeling down or wondering why I’ve come to work in such a male dominated industry where I don’t always feel that I have role models or a path to follow, I remind myself to stay strong and to be my own role model. I remind myself that albeit slowly, things are shifting. I am determined to teach, offer encouragement, and be in the tech space to show other women that if I did it, they can too. “I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare” --Maya Angelou
What is the most important thing you’ve learned in the last year?
Follow your intuition, and take excellent care of yourself. You are your greatest treasure!
And what are your plans for the future?
I plan to learn and experiment with tons of different tech, to play music and create art, to travel and explore, and to make many friends and spend time with my family.
If you could do one thing differently, what would it be?
As odd as this is, I wouldn’t change a thing. Every experience, however devastating or heart wrenching at the time has taught me so much, and I wouldn’t be where I am without having learned from my missteps.
Find Abbie on Twitter at @SeaSaltAndSun.
