As a life long athlete, I learned valuable skills such as perseverance, teamwork, performance under pressure, and desire to grow. In the words of Brené Brown, “You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” I knew that if I wanted to continue to develop both professionally and personally I was going to have to find the courage to make a change that was completely out of my comfort zone. I decided to pivot from college athletics, something I was so comfortable with and attend Carolina Code School to learn web development. Not only did I learn programming languages and frameworks, but I learned how to think like a developer and how to learn differently. I failed a lot, but in failing I learned more than I could have ever imagined.Now, in my first software engineering role, I have been able to gather a wealth of knowledge from my mentor and other colleagues. I am eager to learn and enjoy collaborating with my team as they offer different perspectives and solutions to each problem. I’ve gained more perspective by working closely with the design team to execute applications that both look the designer intended and function seamlessly. Because these team members have been so instrumental in growing my skillset, I am passionate about continuing to learn and grow so that I can give back to new developers trying to break into the tech industry.