Ryan Mertz

PROFILE LINKS ARE AT THE BOTTOM















Hello!


I'm Ryan. Former Business Operations Manager, produce broker, but once again a student and eager to learn new skills. Just a couple months ago, unsatisfied with my opportunities at work, I took on the biggest challenge of my life, changing careers and starting from scratch in the tech world. Just a couple of months ago, I was at my 9-5 for a small aviation manufacturer; I was reading up on how I could automate some of my work load since it was mainly excel plus some diagrams - I knew it could be done and done easily, but I didn't have the knowledge to assemle it myself. My job duties could be finished with a few key strokes and overnight I'd become obsolete, but I'd prefer to be the author that code and began applying to junior positions and enrolled in a tech prep course. Thanks to the opportunity at Discovery Partners Institute, I quit my job and dove head first into web development. The curriculum was/is intense and fast paced, with topics including: Ruby / HTML / CSS / Domain Modeling / Rails / SQL. Before long, I was a software development apprentice, and fortunate to be attending lectures given by distinguished professors in the industry and mentored by alumn of elite universities. It has truly been a humbling experience and full of incredible life lessons. A message that has resonated with me recently is about about vocalizing your goals and current progress, and not be silent in pursuit of perfection.
Some projects will always need more work; always close but never completely finished (like a dynamic website). Knowing when to stop acknowledge diminishing returns has taken more self control than I ever expected. The open ended nature of coding isn't the black and white caulculus solution I'm accustomed to working towards. No strictly defined answer or even a clear question at times, leaves a lot open to personal preference, but producing something is always better than nothing. Skills aren't worth much if others don't know you have them. I've never been vocal about my goals, but adopting an "underpromise & overdeliver" mentality hasn't gotten me very far. So, display your work even if it's not "ready" because it doesn't need to be - It's progress and the only way coworkers, bosses, friends, etc. will know that you've made some.


Having said that, here is the culmination of the last 5 weeks of my life, and a testament to the skills we're learning here. From not knowing what repository was or what a command line is used for, to this project - my personal website! A central collection of links for all my projects, and anything digital to show off. After multiple overly ambitious attempts, trying to incorporate code I'm not firmiliar with, it's finally live. My public learning journal to help solidify my owm understanding of each topic we cover in class. While it's far from perfect, I take pride in having written every line of code myself, without using any templates or copy-pasting, and unconventionally pushed to Github compared to my peers. I did it right on Github without any virtual work environment to aid in the process. Initially, I was overwhelmed by the number of services and programs (jekyll, github, gitlab, gitpod, docker, codepen, dillinger, etc) that all seemingly achieved the same thing - at least from my perspective at the time - they took my files and assembled them into a website. Of course, I was wrong, but I didn't know why. Unfortunately for me, I like to learn things the hard way.

The purpose behind each service, how they all worked together, why one service couldn't just do it all, and why they were necessary (or at least made a programmer's life much easier) was too broad a question for anyone to answer, because it would take an entire week to answer to my satisfaction. I wanted to know what issue each SaaS was solving for me, so I took a step back and started with the most basic setup in order to realize those hardships firsthand. Constantly reloading a single html file from my desktop and on to Chrome. Over and over again, and slowly incorporated tools I specifically sought out.
Lacking necessary tools, I quickly understood each software's purpose and what I could gain from it. Identifying the root of the issue has always been my approach to problem-solving and studying. This project was no exception, giving me a deeper appreciation and knowledge of each service because I needed them to solve the very real problem right in front of me. Admittedly, learning lessons the hard way isn't usually ideal, but given a controlled environment, there's no better way to learn, and precisely how I would describe the environment here at DPI. My biggest failure after graduating from college was believing that nothing was needed unless a situation demanded it. Only ever reacting to problems that presented themselves as problems, and solving them as they got to me. Never proactively identifying their triggers and warning signs, which is arguably more important consideting the direction AI is going. Once the problem is real, the answer becomes obvious and anyone can ask ChatGPT to find that answer. Predicting a problem before it happends and knowing what a customer needs even when they don't know it - are very similar in that respect and both require a deeper motivation Understanding "why" has been a central theme throughout this program, both in terms of software and personal growth. Once I can comprehend "why," something occurs at the deepest level, everything else is merely background noise.

Whether it's structuring a database, identifying my own personal motivations, or deciding between a proc vs. lambda, I ask myself "why" enough times and eventually land on the same fundamental ideas. Most of Ruby's rules are rooted in Algebra and Calculus theorems - the same ones I never thought would be applied outside the classroom. (Yes, these concepts apply to pretty much everything in existence if you try hard enough, but it's much more obvious when everything gets labeled and quantified in a database)

**I have documented my obstacles and insightful 'Aha' moments in my blog, which I invite you to explore (though it is currently a work in progress).**

My formal education is mainly in mathematics, although my degrees are Management Information Systems and Industrial Management; Mathematics is where I always excelled and the knowledge I've retained the most. Simply because I enjoy it; I was the only student taking Linear Algebra as an elective and not required for my curriculum.

Either way, my foundation in maths has provided immense amounts of clarity around a lot of Ruby's fundamental concepts (I assume other languages, too, but Ruby is my first). As well as the confidence to learn other languages in the future and adapt to new working environments. I am eager to continue learning and growing in this constantly evolving field and look forward to the challenge. Adapting swiftly is more crucial than ever thanks to recent advancements in AI, and I plan to be right at the heart of it.

Feel free to explore my website, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. I have linked a few of the services I've used, as well as my social profiles below, if you want to connect with me. I am always on the lookout for new projects to participate in!