If I could go back five years and tell my college self that I’d become a software engineer, I wouldn’t have believed it.

My career transition started in 2022 during an exchange program in Korea, where I first became interested in UX Design. From there, I taught myself front-end web development, and eventually found my way to iOS development. The whole journey still feels surreal.

Earlier this year, I joined the final iOS cohort at AppWorks School (now Aiworks). I was initially worried I’d struggle, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. I found myself increasingly enthusiastic, enjoying coding every single day. That feeling of endless learning was truly exhilarating. I was truly thankful I stumbled into iOS, and in July, I officially landed a position as an iOS engineer.

Since entering the professional world, I’ve noticed that in this age of AI, learning ability and coding skills alone seem less crucial. The pace of technological advancement feels impossible to keep up with, and this creates a real sense of information anxiety.

Fortunately, through various tasks at work, I discovered where I truly shine.

During a company book club, I presented on CreateML. I was able to clearly understand what the audience wanted to hear, translating complex technical jargon into engaging and accessible knowledge. This was well-received by managers from the app, front-end, and IT departments. When our app team brainstormed side project ideas, I took the lead in the product ideation process, breaking down complex UX steps into a language that engineers could easily understand (fellow engineers, you know what I mean).

I used to highlight my past internship experience, the product insights I gained from podcast production, and my UX background during interviews, mentioning that these experiences made me stand out from other engineers. But I never thought they’d become so valuable in my actual work.

It turns out, every little experience does help you afterward (or so I like to think).

Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring areas outside of iOS development, such as implementing CI/CD automation with Jenkins, pursuing the AWS CCP certification, and collaborating with friends on a side project. While I still get anxious about the constant change in tech, I keep reminding myself of something I wrote when I was going through a tough time:

“The thorns along the path can’t stop me from becoming braver as I push past them, and the warm sun still does its best to shine a hazy yet beautiful light on my journey.”

At the start of this year, I wanted to become an iOS engineer.
By the end of this year, I want to be so much more than just an iOS engineer.