From Med Student to Full-Time Developer and Sole Proprietor: Connecting the Dots

I first encountered programming in high school, required to learn Java. Surprisingly, I found myself genuinely enjoying it, even landing in the top 10 of my class. I liked programming—a lot.

After finishing Java, I had an opportunity to dive deeper into AP Computer Science. But I didn’t choose it.

Here’s why:

My roommate at the time was a programming prodigy. When the game “The World's Most Difficult Game” went viral in South Korea, he effortlessly speed-ran it and then casually built “The World’s Most Difficult Game 2” himself, saying, “The original wasn't difficult enough.” When a breakout-style swipe game gained popularity, he shrugged, saying, "Too simple," and casually added gravity into it.

Watching him effortlessly build these amazing creations made my proud accomplishment of acing Java feel insignificant. It convinced me that programming was reserved only for geniuses.

At my high school, we chose majors early, so instead, I pursued psychology, driven by my interest with how the human mind works. This eventually led me to medical school, where I envisioned myself becoming a psychiatrist, determined to help alleviate people's mental suffering. My passion was strong enough to earn me a student membership in the American Psychiatric Association(APA).

However, programming never fully left my life. Even in med school, I took Python course during my first year. But soon, the relentless cycle of lectures, memorizing, and exams consumed my time completely. The daily grind of medical studies felt like a never-ending loop.

Then one day, learning psychotherapy from my psychiatrist mentor, an aha-moment came to me: "Wait—this therapeutic process can be programmed! With AI, it could really work!"

Excited, I reached out to a high school senior—a successful doctor-entrepreneur—and I remember presenting my idea with an actual PowerPoint, as if it were real IR pitching. He smiled knowingly and simply said, “Do it. I know you’ll do it no matter what.”

That was all the validation I needed.

From that moment, I took a leave of absence from the school and transitioned into a full-time developer. Over the next year, I immersed myself in programming—Python, JavaScript, Dart—and frameworks like Django, FastAPI, Flutter, and LangChain. I navigated through Docker, AWS, SQL and even deep learning. Quite broad spectrum of learning but nothing was in vain.

After one intensive year of self-learning and two intense months of coding day and night, I finally completed my project. The moment I saw my chatbot working smoothly on real mobile device, my heart filled with indescribable joy. I named her "Elissa"—and the pride I felt was akin to welcoming a newborn daughter into the world.

Looking back now, in the pre-launching phase of my product, I clearly see how all these seemingly unrelated dots have beautifully connected. My earlier programming experience, once overshadowed by doubts and insecurity, turned out to be foundational. My background in psychology and medicine deepened my understanding of AI-driven psychotherapy, while my recent experience in full-time coding transformed me into a capable developer.

The dots truly do connect, and I'm genuinely excited about what's next.