About Me: Michael Murrell
My name is Michael and I am a native San Diegan who grew up in Spring Valley. My wife is also native and she grew up a few miles from me in La Mesa, although we did not meet until we were 18. Our doggie Emma is a pit/lab mix who is between 12 and 13 years old, although everyone thinks she is a puppy when they witness her energy levels. After growing up in East County and slowly moving west over the last 11 years that I've been with my wife, we finally bought a condo in the Cortez Hill area of downtown last year. I absolutely love where we live and look forward to leaving the miserable traffic in Sorrento Valley after work to make my way downtown to my comfy condo. Life could not be better... well actually it could be once I become a developer and can travel more and stay out of traffic.
Why I'm Here
I met my now-wife in 2007 a month after I graduated high school. I hated school and did not want to go to college but she convinced me to because I had no other alternative plans for my future. After switching my major several times, working 25 hours a week to pay for my own college and rent, and choosing a 5 year major, I graduated from SDSU 8 years later with a bachelors in International Business. I now work at Qualcomm as a Demand Planning Analyst but I'm looking for a career change since I'm somewhat miserable. My wife is a full-stack web developer, or software engineer, or programmer, or whatever else they want to call themselves these days... and I guess I want to be more like her. I have several developer friends and they all make good money and seem to be happy with their jobs. I could do a little better in both of those areas so that's why I'm here, to take the plunge to hopefully be half as talented as my wife.
If you want to check out my project from the summer semester, please check out the link below. (My wife also decided to do the project for fun and did it in a day and totally showed me up. Feel free to check hers out below as well)
What I do in my Free Time
Well to start, I don't have a lot of free time. I work 50-55 hours a week and on top of that you can add time I'm sitting in traffic to and from work in north county. To add to this, I'm also taking this coding course, going to the gym to keep my sanity, taking my dog on a walks, and eating food so I don't starve. When I do find some free time I like the following:
- Going to the beach
- Going out for good food and cocktails
- Exploring new neighborhoods on my moped
- Taking my dog Emma swimming
- Eating dessert, lots of dessert
- Regretting my dessert and going to the gym
What my Future Looks Like
My future is pretty dope for lack of a better word and because I can't properly express myself in a PC way. Well, life's not bad already but it's definitely going to be better. I'll be working as a developer closer to home; I can picture it somewhere I can walk or ride to (sell that car). I can see my knowledge base increasing which will increase not only my salary but also my confidence in myself. I'll have doggies, doggies everywhere. I'll be less stressed at work and ideally work with people a little closer to my generation who are less set in doing things the archaic way. I'll have more time to travel and more time to enjoy the things we've been working so hard far.