Why I Work in Software
Every Sunday, my folks would get crotchety. They used to call it the "Sunday Blues" because they were dreading going to work the next day. My significant other was the same. We've been together over 2.5 years and everyday I ask him how work was, the first time I heard that work was "good" was last week (when he started a new job). When I was in college, I remember asking someone a few years ahead of me why he was getting into the field, he said for the money. He was probably only 21 or 22 at the time and I remember thinking that's a really long time to be unhappy for money. It is astonishing how many people with or without degrees accept jobs because they are jobs. I am thankful that I can be a software engineer. And although the money helps with student loan payments, payments for a reliable car, food on the table, and I can support myself without any help, that isn't why I got into software.
Did you know that "Engineering" stems from Latin ingenium, meaning cleverness, and ingeniare, meaning to contrive? (source) Honestly, that summarizes my love for software. I love problem solving and thinking creatively which makes me very picky when it comes to which projects I work on. I would hate converting Fortran to C or optimizing a piece of software just to appease someone's impatience. I love my field because I get to solve problems no one else can solve using software. I get to make a difference, constantly learn, and think out-of-the-box.
I'm thankful that what I love about my job is the work I do. I still face, and will likely always face, sexist leadership and classic engineer egos but I'm guessing I'd face those same challenges regardless of what field I'm in or what company I'm at.
