Leave Me Behind

Summary

“If you don’t learn how to use AI, you’re going to be left behind.”So leave me behind.I learned to build Android applications in 2014. I was in college taking a Java programming class, when a classmate shared a free online course to learn Android development. The goal was short: build a todo list app with local storage.When I completed the minimum requirements, I unplugged my phone from my laptop and went over to my parents to show them what I built. I often refer to this as my “lightbulb moment”. Here in my hands was a real, tangible piece of software that I built and could interact with. It wasn’t the first time I programmed something, but it was the first time I had an application on a device that I could carry over and show someone. The app lived in my pocket, always available when I needed it, to help me stay organized and productive.Immediately, I realized a sense of purpose in my work. I was learning the skills necessary to give people direct access to a tool that can create a truly positive impact. I fully experienced this first hand in 2018 when I found myself working on the very dating app I would use to meet my wife.After taking this first course, I would spend the next decade honing my skills as an Android developer. I helped maintain a number of applications with real world, tangible benefits for others - whether that’s finding their special someone, gaining easier access to their medications, or supporting them to travel and see all of the beauty this world has to offer.As I look back on this journey so far, it’s not the outcome of these applications that I cherish most. It’s the people who have made it all happen.In the beginning of my journey, my goal was to consume as much information as I could. I would sign on every week to my course and learn everything the professor could teach me about Android. I would take another course where Googlers taught me how to build a weather app, and I couldn’t get enough of these experiences. I would sit down and wo...