Path of Discovery

*This is a submission for the [2026 WeCoded Challenge](https://dev.to/challenges/wecoded-2026): Echoes of Experience* A bit personal, a bit all over. Sharing pieces of my uncomfortable journey in the working world. <hr> ### Illusions of Society Why is there a glass ceiling if a woman must pay as much as a man for things? I make 20% less to my male equivalent, but life expenses are the same (if not more if you include the “pink” tax) as what the man would pay. In 2023, that number was precisely 21.8 percent <a href= "https://www.epi.org/blog/gender-wage-gap-persists-in-2023-women-are-paid-roughly-22-less-than-men-on-average/" tab="_blank">according to this source</a>. I was once told to not get fat because I'm “not married yet”. At one of my first jobs, the person that interviewed me told me he thought I was going to be Mexican. Since I look white, you would never guess I was half Mexican. At a place where I had training, a peer asked me: “Why would anyone want to hire you? You don’t even have a computer science degree.” I looked at the person, knowing that I had built a computer, repaired many others, and he did not. Everything I knew to that point was largely self-taught. What an arrogant fool. I said nothing, because I had nothing productive to say to him at that moment. Does not having a C.S. degree negate the 10 + years of other work experience? Am I completely incompetent because I hold a science degree currently, not in computers? I once had an IT position where the clients were often surprised that I was not a man. I was a tomboy as a kid, but sheesh. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/sustainability/feature/Business-driving-reasons-why-diverse-teams-are-smarter" tab="_blank">This article</a> briefly summarizes some of the benefits of diversity in the workplace. Diversity should be embraced, not avoided.  <hr> ### Productivity Buffs If I must work, I want to do something I like. I used to think programming was for some smart people in a distant land way over there —-------------------------------> A recent book I read called “How to Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty, reminded me that everything is a variable. The only thing that is truly with you your whole life is your breath. If that’s the case, then anything is possible. My current financial status, my relationships, everything, variable. There is no task too difficult that cannot be achieved by small, easy to digest steps. (Thank you Monks) This must be how reverse engineers think. Reverse engineering. That sounds cool. I purchased a reverse engineering book from the local bookstore and added it to my pile of growing programming books, somewhere between my CompTIA A+ book and SQL Programming Guide. One day. I do not know where I am going, but I know that I am building. Since I have changed my thinking and begun to get a better grasp of the briefness of human existence, I have been able to put aside all the things that do not serve me (for the most part) and pay attention more to those things that will help take me places to achieve my goals. Learning programming and computer science the last three years has allowed me to stop focusing on all of my supposed problems and slightly uncomfortable reality, and focus on things that are more productive.  <hr> ### General Life Some people have written about how coding jobs can be stressful, and while I can see that, I’m a workhorse with a non-existent social life. Pretty sure I’d be right at home. (I have had my fair share of social-butterflying.) I wake up, I go to work, I come home and go to my remote class, I work on projects, I have my daughter on the weekends, I help my parents with random house things (you know, simple woman stuff like repairing the garage door in the freezing cold and family cybersecurity… mom… why did you click that… -.-) Despite society trying to stuff me into some cute little predefined bundle, I have been just about everything but the expected. I’ve avoided developing a wrinkle on my forehead by actively trying to not frown my whole life. Some call this OCD. Some call this determination. <hr> ### Closing Statements  You decide what matters. You set the bar. Make sure you always ask the question: “According to whose standards?” Is it your standards, or someone else’s? Do you blindly follow, or do you think for yourself? Every being should have the freedom to express themselves and live their life in a way that suits them so long as it does not cause harm to others. Help actually, if you are able. <3 Our challenges make us stronger when we come out the other side. Do not be mad the universe gave you challenges, but instead thank it for seeing you as a worthy champion.