🚀Entering Tech #70: From nursing to software development

Infatuated by how the human body works and how fascinating the names of illnesses sounded, Eunice Jacob decided she was going to become a medical doctor. But that dream didn’t happen for her. After writing her post-UTME exam, worried that she wasn’t getting into medical school, she settled for the next best thing that bought her a freedom ticket from home: studying nursing at the Bayelsa State College of Nursing and Basic Midwifery.

That was going well for a while until it no longer wasn’t.

“I did not feel the drive and passion to want to grow in nursing, I could not see a future in it.”

Like most graduates, and this writer who studied engineering, Eunice decided one day that she wasn’t cut out for a profession she’d spent three years studying. It wasn’t the sight of blood (thank goodness) or the long hours that bothered her—it was the realisation that her heart wasn’t fully in it. While nursing was great, she thought about the next best thing to do.

One day, during a routine call with her brother, Eunice finally voiced her doubts. That conversation probably started like this, “I don’t think nursing is for me.” 

Her brother played a key role in setting her up for her tech dream. He helped create a plan for her. Before long, Eunice started taking Harvard University’s CS50 Introduction to Computer Science—one of the best computer science open courses on the internet for anybody working in tech. 

Afterwards she contributed to an open-source project called the Odin Project. There, she learnt the basics, HTML and CSS, before advancing to the nuttier stuff in Node.js and database management. Yet, for her, this was the start of what she describes as a “wonderful but challenging” journey.

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Fortune favors the bold, they say, and Eunice’s boldness paid off when she was accepted into the Women Techsters programme. Suddenly, her days were filled with intense four-hour calls, her nights with personal study sessions. The pressure to start a nursing career loomed large, but Eunice stood her ground, despite facing setbacks like lacking a functioning laptop.

But Eunice wasn’t done yet. She graduated at the top of her class in the Women Techsters program, a testament to her dedication. And as if to put a cherry on top of her tech journey, her team, Techbots, clinched the first runner-up position in a hackathon organised by BeerTech Africa, bagging a cool $2,000 tech money.

Entering tech didn’t come without the struggles. It took Eunice one year of self-learning and many job applications after to land her first role in tech. 

Her first job in 2022 was as a backend developer. It came with a paycheck that made her eyes pop: ₦150,000—more than just money, it was validation of her hard work, and her daring career switch.

That made her work even harder. Today, Eunice works as a full-stack engineer at Famasi Africa. 

From the halls of a nursing college to the binary world of tech, Eunice’s journey was anything but ordinary. She traded stethoscopes for syntax, bandages for brackets. Learning software development felt right for her, now she feels at home doing what she loves.

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If you’re someone who’s looking to pivot into tech and weighing your options, Eunice wants you to know these five things:

1. Follow your trail and don’t be afraid to change careers if you find tech more exciting
2. Learn continuously and contribute to open-source projects.
3. Take advantage of free resources and online courses.
4. Stay hungry for opportunities.
5. Most importantly, join tech communities.

We can’t stress the last part enough. If you want to grow in anything you’re doing, gather people around you who are on the same path as you, and recommend Entering Tech newsletter to them. They understand your journey better than anyone and can provide support in your down days, guidance when you’re confused, and answers when you have questions.

If you’re still in school, find tech communities to plug into and grow. Some standout ones are Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors, Data Science Nigeria, Zindi Africa, Ingressive for Good (I4G), and Google Developer Student Clubs. Most of them already exist in your university.

If you’re out of school, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Staying active and contributing in communities like Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Codementor could make a difference in your career.

Like Eunice, if you want to make a career jump to software development, we’ve created breakdowns in past editions on how to become a frontend developer or a backend engineer. Dig in and keep those tech dreams alive.

May the force be with you.

P.S: Did you like this edition of Entering Tech? Would you like more like this or less? Share your thoughts by responding to this newsletter or sending an email to newsletter@techcabal.com.