Good morning, devs. In this vlog I’m juggling a packed day: finishing freelance work, making way too much coffee, and then getting back into building my next indie iOS app. I also answer the big question from the title: do you really need a CS degree to become a software engineer in 2025? For me, the answer is no. I’m not saying “don’t go to college” — I’m saying it’s not mandatory if you can’t afford it, don’t have time, or you already know exactly what you want to build. I taught myself (Android first, then iOS), started freelancing, and after 3 years I even got a job contract offer without a degree. I also share some very practical freelancing + resume tips. I find clients on Upwork, and honestly it’s competitive, so your rate matters: super low budgets usually come with super high expectations (I learned that the hard way with a $300 project). On the resume side, I focus on results, not just tech: features shipped, impact, users — and yes, sometimes you need to estimate reasonable numbers to make the value clear. I wrap the day by showing what I’m building for a client (an AI-ish face fat / nutrition app flow), plus how I’m thinking about onboarding, paywalls, and realistic revenue goals.