Whaaat? I started coding when my friend and I tried building a game as a hobby. It was Java using LibGDX + a Netty server, which came in handy when I transitioned to Java Spring for freelancing work. We worked on the project for a year and a half.

I did freelancing for 2 years, everything from peoples homework to full APIs. The money was terrible but it was mostly still a hobby (I worked at Sears). I applied for an apprenticeship at IBM and wowed them in the interview, so they offered a full-time job instead. A few years later, I started working for a smaller company it's great.

Now I just work with Java Spring Boot, doing similar API development I was doing as a hobbyist.