The journey of a thousand mile
A BIT OF HISTORY
First of all, I’m not a writer and this is relatively new to me🤷♀️, so instead of overthinking, I decided to sit down and write this article in one go🤔.
I have always been passionate about technologies and anything tech-related😎, always loved the idea of building amazing stuff and how the web works but then I didn’t have any idea of how these things are being built or programmed.
Growing up my parents had to deal with my curiosity and overzealousness about computer gadgets, so when my peers were going for summer holiday lessons, I found my way to a computer learning hub.
Now the first challenge was that I was made to go through computer appreciation classes but this was not what I needed, I already knew how to use MS word and some of the programs that I was offered, so in my inquisitive nature I will sneak up to the other side of the hub where I felt the real thing was going on. I was just a kid almost getting to my teenage age and here I was seated with University students and asking lots of questions. I saw them use MATLAB and it was cool but unfortunately, I was too young to grasp anything that was going on there😥.
My instructor was fond of me and in several occasions, allow me to assist him in his official duties, it was on one of those days that I dabbled into him working on a project for a client and I asked what it was all about, he told me he was developing a website for the client and my curiosity grew. I got to know that he was using a program called Adobe Dreamweaver and he promised to teach me but unfortunately, summer holidays came to an end and I had to go back to school and that was a temporary end to my tech journey all through high school.
I got admission into the university to study Mechanical Engineering, I got a laptop then and started finding my way back but then my course and school were so demanding so I couldn’t do much. Another challenge was having a guide or a path,
I was never quite sure how best to proceed even though I fancied all the cool technologies so it was like that till I was done with school.
BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY
Fast forward to late 2018 I got a call from a friend and coursemate that he was in Enugu, he was selected for a program called startup Nigeria or so I can’t remember but they were lodged in Enugu and going for seminars. He told me about his idea and what he was developing, it was an amazing idea but then I didn’t have the required technical skills to contribute to this great work😒
these seminars were being held in a place called Genesys Tech Hub, told him I have never heard of the place, and started making my research about them, that was how I got to know about Genesys.
It was during this period I found out about a tech program Genesys Tech Hub was hosting, FORLOOP Africa.
It was a community of developers in Africa and they were having their maiden meetup in Enugu. I was excited about the program, finally my chance to break into a tech community.
They had a host of amazing speakers who nailed it and that event defined my journey into tech. Although most of the things been discussed there were new to me and felt like jargons but I didn’t relent.
During the forloop event which was held at Genesys tech hub, the staffs of Genesys were kind enough to show us around their facilities, it was a good tour, I got to know of some of their programs and the coworking space.
It was during this event in 2019 I got to know about the Genesys Program called LEARNABLE. I applied for it but unfortunately, I wasn’t accepted.
I didn’t relent. I got to know about freecodecamp.org from the event and I started learning about basic HTML and CSS. Down the line, through the connections I made during the meetup, I got to know about the GoogleAfrica Developer Scholarship through ALC and Pluralsight.
I applied and got in and started learning. This helped me in defining my path and finally pursuing this passion😎.
As a newcomer to the development world, I always want to be hyper-aware of the fact that I’ve made my way here through unconventional means. I had no formal education in this field, I have learned almost everything I know from people and the free distribution of their knowledge. I didn’t make it to the project phase of the google Africa program because I had to go for camp. I didn’t stop learning, I kept pushing and another opportunity presented itself, LEARNABLE20 a 6 months internship with Genesys. I applied again and this time I got in; it has been an incredible journey this past one year and I can’t say how excited I am for what is ahead, expanding my knowledge and going deeper into understanding better concepts with this internship.
HERE WE GO
In my journey so far, I have had doubts might still do, imposter syndromes😪
and all but then we still push. So, moving ahead, I’m very optimistic this experience will be awesome and a huge stepping stone to greater things. Might as well be a long road with more work to be done but I’m up to this great challenge because everything is #learnable.
So this is to becoming a better developer and building amazing stuff in the future.🥂
