In high school, I did not have exposure to coding. Due to my father’s influence, I was interested in computers especially Apple products like the Apple IIe and the Mac. When I went to college I knew I was going to major in mathematics, but I was also planning to combine that with something related to computer science. 

My first programming course was Fortran, and I realized that the syntax and logic seemed to be a fit for my way of thinking. My next programming course was C++, and this is where my programming plans went off the rails.

As I stated, I have always been an Apple person. Freshman year I used my student discount to buy a PowerMac 7200/75 MHz machine, which was the state of the art at the time. In the C++ class, everyone was using PCs. I was the only person attempting to use a Mac to code. In fact, I had to use emulation software called Code Warrior. It was an uphill battle, and I encountered so much negativity and resistance to Mac computers that I decided programming was not for me. 

Looking back on that experience I realize that was a pivotal moment. Had I had a better experience with programming, I’m sure it would have changed my entire career trajectory. If iPhones had existed back then and I was able to take courses programming for iOS, it would have been a different story. 

At this point, I don’t know whether it would be beneficial for me to learn to code. The closest I have gotten to coding in my career is writing SQL queries. I am not opposed to learning something new, but if I do I want there to be a straight line from that learning to one of my goals. 

I’m at a stage in my life where I want to double down on my strengths. I’m not ruling out coding at some point in my future, but for right now I will happily use my Apple devices without knowing the ins and outs of how they work.