From an outsider who broke into the tech world.
For some of us, networking is something we toss to the side from our list of goals. For me, as I was making my career change from middle school history teacher to iOS developer, all I wanted to do was prove all of the doubters wrong, alone. I wanted to lock myself in my room and bury myself in online resources, not coming out until hundreds of hours later, brain bulging, able to surprise everyone by attaining my dream job as a programmer.
It wasn’t until after reading a book on…
In December of 2018 I had just left a job with Teach for America as an 8th grade US History and Music teacher. I was making $40,000. I wasn’t able to continue teaching, and I didn’t have many other describable, lucrative skills. I had majored in Cultural Anthropology with minors in Spanish, International Studies, and Music Technology, without any relevant internship experience. Suffice to say, I was playing with toys my whole life until I found myself in a grown-up world without a real plan.
I wasn’t sure what to do next.
Fast forward to January of 2020, when I…
Take it slow
Pick an easy song to attempt first. You may have a dream to play a certain song, but the truth is, if you get too frustrated and overwhelmed, you will give up. Set smaller goals and work your way up.
Same is true with actually practicing the music. Everyone tries to play everything so fast. Sometimes people even get frustrated at how they’re just not getting something, and then suddenly try it super quickly (to compensate) and obviously fail at it. Don’t do that.
Smoothness > Speed
Aim for no stops when you are trying to play something. Even if that means playing…
Brandon Fong
iOS Developer, musician, language-enthusiast, former history teacher. ENFP. Empath. Always learning. Work portfolio: https://brandonfong.dev/
