I'm Richard Westmoreland.
Here's my story.

I've loved technology and software for as long as I remember. My first computer science class was in the 10th grade - where we spent an entire semester learning how to write a C++ program that adds two numbers together.

My journey to where I am now as a full-stack engineer was winding. I chose to pursue music in college - earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston in 2009. This is, however, a career that I never pursued.

My aviation career began in April of 2012 when I started as a flight attendant on small turboprops at Colgan Air. I enjoyed my time there but wanted to be on the other side of the flight deck door. I earned my private pilot's license during my time at Colgan Air and then went on to earn my commercial pilot’s license and all of my instructor licenses after Colgan shuttered its doors in 2013.

I spent time as a flight instructor in Houston, TX. And then moved on to flying cargo in Shorts 360 aircraft for a UPS contractor. I started at Skywest Airlines as a First Officer in December 2014 and became a captain two years later in February 2016.

I began learning how to code in 2017 and I fell in love. I would spend all of my spare time in hotels and airports with my laptop building personal projects. I even started a short-lived business building and selling a Wi-Fi temperature controller for homebrewers.

The airlines wore on me. I began applying for software jobs in early 2019. Believe it or not, the first company that offered me an interview was the first company to offer me a job. I hung up my airline uniform and began at FlightAware in February 2020.

I love this career more than ever now. I'm currently a software engineer at Going and am focusing primarily on front-end work.