"Coding is hard." - 12 year old me, looking for a missing semicolon in my "hello world" script."Coding is really hard." - 18 year old me, wondering how people went from "hello world" to full-fledged video games."Coding is not that bad." - present-day me, wondering if I could recreate the ClockClock 24 sculpture.From the moment my parents surprised me with my first PC, my dream was to get as good as those Hollywood hackers. Unfortunately, at the time I had no idea where to start and was vastly limited on resources for learning, so as motivated as I was at the time, my younger self would have to wait a couple more years for those opportunities and discipline to begin. When I finally committed to learning and optimizing my time spent learning, I realized three things: 1) I loved the process behind coding new projects. 2) I found understanding the theory highly satisfying. 3) This was something I wanted to do long-term.Anyways, nice to meet you! My name is Francisco Bryan Ortega. I am a former pharmacy student pivoting towards a long-term career in software engineering. I have worked at a Walmart Distribution Center as a Freight Handler for over two years now and during that time have had two excellent opportunities that have contributed to my decision to pursue software engineering. The first opportunity was the ability to consider a career switch in the first place due to a very flexible schedule. I enrolled in a few self-paced courses focused on JavaScript and web development. That’s where I learned the fundamentals of programming and solidified my interest in tech as a long-term career.The second opportunity was a software engineering bootcamp that was sponsored by Walmart through Hackbright Academy. This was a 26 week-long program focused on full-stack development using Python and Flask. Apart from learning various other technologies, I was introduced to collaborative agile practices, version control systems, and deployment strategies that a traditional college student might not have the opportunity to see until their first entry-level role. This opportunity confirmed my technical abilities, non-technical skills, and commitment to continual growth in this field. I am passionate about software engineering and excited to continue to learn and grow in this field. I am eager for opportunities that can mentor me in the most fitting discipline, whether it be Backend Development, ML/AI, Big Data, Cybersecurity, etc.