A New Beginning..
Have you ever had a job that paid well and you didn’t mind doing, but you just wanted a little more? Feels like you’re settling a little bit? Well, that’s how I felt. I worked as a casino dealer for a little over 7 years in a professional setting. I say professional setting because it wasn’t always!
My path to the casino seemed like it was made for me. Growing up, I would play house games at friends houses and even a few tournaments here and there. I ended up getting pretty decent and turned that into a source of income for myself. Yes, I used to gamble for a living. Needless to say, I had gotten pretty good at this game and it became my new way of “getting by”. Up the road from where I stayed, a new casino was being built. This brought in a lot of out of town employees and of course, I’m not the only person who enjoys poker. Some of the employees made their ways over to some of the games I held and enjoyed the service and tempo of the games. So much, that one of the players, who was a manager at the casino, offered me a job at this new casino. I figured, why not do what I’m already doing and make this a profession. I accepted the offer and off to dealing school I went. This was a great opportunity for me because now instead of gambling to make money, I could deal, potentially make more, and there is no risk of me losing my own money. What could be better?
Behold! The casino life is great and treating me well! I was having a good time, my job was not very challenging, I got to meet a lot of great people, new friends, and I’m getting paid well all in one! As time passed, as with anything else, the casino life became old. I wanted a little bit more and was trying to find my way out. In the casino, that is hard because if you don’t want to leave the casino, you really don’t have to. Without a degree, a casino job is a great source of income and pays more than other jobs so if you leave, you kind of take a pay cut. However, for some people and people like myself. I seen the bigger picture. After 7 years, you start to truly realize that working in the casino has no “end game.” What I mean by that is, there is no retirement plan. Looking ahead, you can see your future and this is it. This became a worry for me. I didn’t want to have to work for the rest of my life. I eventually want freedom and not have to worry about surviving. I need something that I can enjoy doing and also not have to do it for the rest of my life. And here, you’ll just be working everyday until you get tired of it, literally. I know some may think, “well couldn’t you just climb the ladder and become a manager or something.” Sure, there is opportunity for advancement but if you’re a dealer, there is no need for you to climb the chain into management (unless you want to). There’s not really a true perk to it. There still isn’t a retirement plan and you could potentially make less money. I don’t know. I feel like this isn’t for me anymore. I want a little bit more and a little bit more freedom than what I have in this industry. Maybe it’s time for a change.. but how?
February 2020, Covid? A new pandemic has risen and put the world in a frenzy. Everything is shutting down! What are we going to do? Is it time to panic? Or is this the opportunity I’ve been waiting for? I’m going to go with the second option, now must be the time. With everything shutting down and everyone having nothing but free time, why not use this opportunity to pursue a new career path? It’s not like I have much else to do. A few years back, I had taken a look into programming but just didn’t have enough time to pursue it. But I think this is my chance! Programming was always an interest of mine and what better time than now with everything is shut down, to learn it! I decided, “you know what? Let’s just create a whole new beginning.” Not only will I take steps towards a new career, I’ll also moved in a new direction! I’m going to move to Denver, CO to become a programmer! Filled with excitement, I enroll in the Denver Flatiron School bootcamp for coding. Not really knowing what to expect, I was ready to embrace this new challenge. After all, I wanted the change in lifestyle and taking my first steps towards my new goal.
