Into the Fire

I am being slammed with new technologies at work. AWS, Github Actions, Docker, and YAML have taken up the majority of my time, and I know what you’re thinking,

“But you are a frontend developer????”

I know. I should be working with React, building the UI, and fiddling with Figma. Still, instead, I find myself knee-deep in technologies that have little compatibility with my job title, and I should be complaining about the unfairness of it all.

I’m not.

I am building myself up for my future. I do want to become a Cloud Engineer, and the things that I am learning now will help me achieve that goal. Sure, it is a pain to learn on the job when all you want to do is get your work done. But when there is an opportunity to seize, you must grab it.

And I am. I just don’t study on the job; I study off the clock as well. I want to accelerate my progress, not wait for permission or the perfect moment. I want to be prepared when the opportunity fully arrives and not scrambling to catch up.

Is it exhausting? Absolutely. Some nights, I stare at my screen wondering why the why something isn’t working and I question if I’m in over my head. But then I remember: this is what leveling up looks like.

Growth isn’t linear. It’s chaotic. It’s uncomfortable. But it’s also powerful.

What’s keeping me grounded is the clarity of my vision. I’m not just absorbing random tech skills, I’m assembling the pieces of a future I’ve chosen. And every small breakthrough, every concept I finally wrap my head around, is proof that I’m getting closer.

So if you’re like me, working a job that doesn’t exactly match where you want to go, but still showing up, still learning, still pushing forward, know this: you’re not off-track. You’re in training.

And one day soon, everything you’re learning now will be the foundation that makes your next role not just possible but inevitable.