The Story of How and Why Susanna Became A Software Engineer (with Substations)

Once upon a time there was a Susanna. Susanna was born into a world filled with substations, pylons, and lands that would later become filled with wind turbines.

There are no coincidences.

Susanna would go on through life and her main passions were acting (I still love presenting), singing (I still sing all the time), and writing (... I write a lot...).

But it would be 18-20 years after she left that magical town with the magical substation (not this one before but a very special one that always spoke to me) before she would rediscover this her true passion - for electricity, renewables and energy.

Renewable Energy Degrees and Job

I'm gonna move into the first person now.

I got two masters degrees in fields related to renewable energy and I just fell completely in love with it. My first job was for Bulb in customer services.

By that time I was completely sure that renewable energy was my passion and my destiny.

I struggled so much with my first job due to my neurodiversity.

I felt that I would not succeed but I knew I had to because of the pylons and the wind farms (if you worked with me during that time - now you know why I kept going! only for the pylons and the wind farms and the substations).

After a year I wanted more.

I could still feel the pylons, the wind farms, the substations and the meters (even the meters were speaking to me too at this point). Btw I also love internet towers and water infrastructures and I can feel them so deeply and closely in my heart. Power stations too.

I got hired into Product

I got a job in Product after a year. A few things happened: 

"Susanna, have you ever tried coding?"

I had a really amazing mentor who had once been my manager. I told him about the job offer (well he helped me to prepare for the interview by telling me to ask really good questions in the interview, amongst others), and he was like: "Susanna have you ever tried coding before?" like it was urgent. "Because I just think... well I just think... well I just think that you'd be really good." While narrowing his eyes at me.

"It's How You Think"

I met a guy in the co-working space who was a software engineer. He said studied maths not computer science.

He said what you study is less important. The way you think is more important. I was like hmmm... I can think. I can really, really think.

SQL with Codecademy

I was replacing someone, now a good friend, in my Product role.

SQL was a nice-to-have.

He told me to try it out with Codecademy.

That first hour of coding on a weekend made me the most serene and most peaceful I've ever been in my life.

"Well, if you're sure"

After a couple of sessions like that and watching every video on YouTube on software engineering I went back to my mentor mentioned above.

He was like: "Did you try it?"

"Yes."

"And did you like it?"

"Yes. I absolutely love it. But I wouldn't want to do it professionally... I mean I couldn't." 

"Well if you're sure."

While narrowing his eyes at me.

"All the best of luck with your future career"

This story is perhaps the craziest of all. I had a medical emergency in the centre of Brighton (I still hesitate to fully disclose it but every time I tell this story I tell a little bit more). 

As is often the case with medical emergencies, the bystanders didn't really know how to intervene and took things the wrong way.

A woman intervened and she was already quite helpful. But then a man appeared, a mysterious older man in a stetson, who was approaching retirement age.

He and his wife were calm and cool and collected. They sat down nearby.

They got chatting to me.

Then I found out he was a software engineer. I suddenly lost interest in everyone and in everything else.

As they helped me to recover they took me inside to a cafe and bought me a tea (best. people. ever). We spoke for an hour or two. 

We talked about languages and which ones to learn first. We talked about creativity.

He told me that computer science was the most creative thing in the world. Thus, he dissolved my final barrier. I told him that I was trying to get up early and train but it was too much work.

He told me that as I was already in tech I should try and move across sideways into a new role.

I didn't think that that was possible.

As I walked away from him that day, or as he and his wife went to dinner that evening rather, he said to me "best of luck with your new career." I could never have believed that it was true.

But two weeks later my mum called me and said: "I think this is a good idea."

My mum saying that to me changed everything.

My mum's opinion means everything to me.

Commitment for life

Once I had the go ahead from her, there was no stopping me now.

I decided to attend every tech event in Brighton and I signed up for coding workshops.

I watched so many youtube videos and I reached out to people at work. I had a few false starts. I'm not going to lie.

Not everybody could see where I was coming from with this.

I began learning CS50 (Harvard's computing course - I never finished this btw).

I learned some Ruby, some Python, some SQL. I went to lots of events like a Python event, a Product event, a cloud event and so on.

The Book of Miracles

My miracle came at a JavaScript event. I fell in love.

There was a book on the shelf called the book of miracles.

I fell in love with JS. 

That same weekend I went to London and fell in love with a web dev exhibit in the Science Museum (later I would go to London and find the perfect JS book. Always on a whim).

And then I met with a mentor and they helped me to start this blog!!!!!!! and a practical frontend course.

This chokes me up.

300ish posts later, I'm on my second job, I've learned Python, JS, TS, HTML, CSS, React, Django, and done a bootcamp and it is literally my full time job to be a software engineer holy cow.

Job Offer

I began posting on my LinkedIn and blog and sharing my blog.

I got noticed internally very quickly but because the Engineering Manager who noticed me was such a kind modest person it took a while to realise what a miracle he was.

As my company changed due to an acquisition my new company had more freedom and could create a role for me.

And thus I was a Trainee Software Engineer. I did four months of self-study and then a bootcamp and then 6 more months of learning on the job.

Job loss

That opportunity was gone but it was time to move on.

The company had to make cuts for financial reasons and my role was affected. On my last day my two most significant colleagues, my manager and my teach lead, with over 30 years dev experience between them, and without consulting each other, said to me that I had to keep coding.

That this was what I needed to be doing.

It was the biggest compliment that I have ever received in my life.

I didn't need to be told twice.

Onwards

I got two amazing job offers and chose my current role because I love utilities.

It's all about the pylons and the offshore wind farms for me.

And the water tech.

There will never be any other way forward for me.

I haven't said that much about how I love coding.

I haven't said too much about how it feels for me when things fall into place and how they add up and click for me.

I haven’t said much about what it feels like to build a product. Or how in control I feel when I write something and I build something. Or how much I love working with other software engineers - and other product managers, and other tech people.

But my real joy is in knowing that this is what I am meant to be doing.

This is my gift. This is what I am meant to be doing.

I know this with all my heart. I have known this with all my heart from the moment I started doing this.

Because as the mentor who got me to start this blog said: "When you know, you know."

This is what I am meant to be doing and this is how I serve the world and serve God and I have never had even a shred of doubt of this in my heart and I have known this with absolute certainty from the very moment I began.

And I hope to be doing this for the rest of my life although we shall see and you never know and you never know how it goes but at least I hope so anyway.

Thank you.