Episode 8: Origin Stories - Matt Merrill

Episode 8 is the first in a series we're calling "Origin Stories."  We'll interview a senior developer about how they got into the field of Software Development and the lessons they learned along the way.  We hope you find these stories interesting and that they might offer you guidance if you're figuring out your own place in the world of software development!

Our first Origin Story is with Matt Merrill, Principal Software Engineer at Rocket Insights.  Matt started as a Computer Science major in college but ended up switching to a different major. Theoretical programming just wasn't interesting to him.  But, in his second year out working in the real world, found himself doing some stuff that made him realize that programming business applications was a lot different than the theoretical stuff he knew from school. It  didn't take long for Matt to fall back in love with programming and make it a career. Over the course of his roundabout journey, Matt learned a couple important lessons. Don't let yourself get too comfortable in what you do and, above all, always ask yourself why you're building what you're building.

This is our first quarantine episode recorded remotely at home.  Enjoy and stay healthy out there!

Picks from the End of the Episode:

• Matt - Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener

• Brandon - Darknet Diaries Podcast - XBox Underground Part 1 & Part 2