My name is Jorge Robles and I am a professionally licensed K-12 Music Teacher in NYS, specializing in instrumental music such as band. I'm also an aspiring programmer trying to find my way back to Computer Science.
Since I was a child, I always have loved the concept of programming. When I was in fifth grade, I learned Java through editing RuneScape private servers back in 2007-2008. I didn't know much about the actual code, but remember seeing stuff like public static void main and public static boolean and trying to change different parameters in order to make monsters spawn.
MoparScape's (A RuneScape private server) loading screen. Source - Reddit.
I loved seeing the changes I could make by changing a few lines of code. I felt like an omnipotent being. I spawned Tz-Tok-Jad, the hardest boss in the game at the time, in the starter area by changing an NPC id in the code.
Tz-Tok-Jad, the hardest boss in RuneScape at the time, in the Lumbridge starter area. Source - Reddit.
However, High School changed my life's path and led me to the arts. I attended Brooklyn Technical High School, a top-tier specialized High School in New York City. I was a small fish in a big pond and had extremely tough math teachers, leading me to nearly fail all three years of Geometry, Trigonometry, and Precalculus. I always scored well on state tests, but getting a 20 or 30 out of 100 was the norm with our teachers curving the grades. I felt stupid, and ended up not getting accepted to the Software Engineering major my Junior Year of High School. I instead focused on Graphic Design, Photography and Video Editing, another hobby of mine from Middle School where I made really bad RuneScape Music Videos (RSMVs).
At the same time, I also fell in love with music. I played clarinet in middle school, but didn't join the band in high school because I didn't know it existed, and was super busy trying to make it through an elite high school as the only son of a low-income immigrant family living with a single mother. I ended up back in Band Junior Year of High School in 2013. This set off a big change in my life where I truly fell in love with Music and wanted to desperately play in a band forever. I practiced hard, caught up and went beyond, making it to the top two bands in the school, played in the all-city concert band and also played in an elite private ensemble called the ISO Symphonic Band where I ended up performing at Carnegie Hall in May 2015.
 Me conducting the Concert Band at Brooklyn Technical High School, 2015.
While deciding my future school choice, I knew I couldn't afford to attend any private schools or dorm at all, so I didn't even try. I applied only to the CUNY schools that were accessible by bus/train, and settled on Queens College. Here I made my biggest life decision thus far: become a Music Educator, teach Band and give up on my Programming dream because I was scared of the Math involved in the CS curriculum. I gave up, and decided to try another passion.
Music Education was awesome - learning about Music Theory engaged me, learning all the instrument families and being able to play them all was mind-blowing, and arranging and performing my own arrangements of Video Game music made me choke up emotionally in a way that I've never felt before. I started up the Undergraduate Big Band at the Aaron Copland School of Music, bringing jazz to undergraduate students at Queens College for the first time in many years. I had an awesome time student teaching, and grew a lot as an adult and person during this time.
Besides finding my love for music, I met the love of my life, Holly. I was so happy. We've been together since March 16th, 2018 and it's been amazing the entire time. I am extremely grateful to her and would not have met her if I had majored in Computer Science beforehand.
Immediately after graduating with my BA in Music Education in January 2020, COVID-19 hit the entire world like a truck. Like everyone else, COVID-19 changed my life forever. I was substitute teaching for about a month before I ended up losing my job due to schools shutting down. I ended up doing nothing for about a year, went back to subbing in October 2020, and became a Teaching Assistant for High School Band from January 2021 to June 2021. I started my Master's degree in Music Education at Ithaca College in July 2021, and started working my current job as a Middle School Teacher starting from August 2021.
Unfortunately, I have lost the spark and love I had for public school Music Education. I truly care for my students, but my mental health has been absolutely horrible since the beginning of the year due to a myriad of issues stemming from many different facets of public education. Public education has always had many problems throughout history, but COVID-19 exacerbated all of its flaws and made the career path unviable for me on both a personal and financial level. It was time for a change.
Thus, a return to plan A. Computer Science.
Strap in, and click here to begin reading my journey.