As the title reads itself, How far I'll go? All sorts of self-doubting questions were standing in front of me like pillars, even today. How will I reach the horizon where I will be called a successful developer?
PS: Thanks Moana for the title. LOL.
But, as Mel Robbin says,
You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.
Also, it's not the bottom line or destination that matters. It's the journey that does. Let's begin.🚀
Cleared Highschool: Now what?
I got a 9.5 GPA in my highschool. Yeah, quite an achievement. Woohoo! But Now what?
Till now, it was all about getting good grades and becoming a topper. But the whole point lies in what will be my future. Loved dancing but making a quick career out of it was pointless. No, I am not saying it was impossible. But my calling was for something different🙂.
Amongst all these questions, one thing was for sure- I have to take my first step, and that bottom line had to wait for now. Just a Lil bit or a Lil long.
The Plot ( );
It was the May of 2020 that I finally decided to pursue a B. Tech degree. Whew🤯, A relief !! All those banners seem quite fascinating, students bagging top-notch packages from the universities, living life to the fullest as Engineers.
The plot was simple.
Go to college.
Grab a 55 lac package.
and, Live life large.
But the reality was far more 🙂, well let's move forward.
What was happening?
One thing was clear like water, the Bollywood college life was way too much unrealistic for this world. There was no musical entry, cheering, or hooting for me when I entered my college premises. No, Nah Nada.😑
The only sliver of hope was The hoardings and banner of heavy packages 😍. No more due and I began my journey by joining the rat race.
✔Started by attending lectures on a lecture.
✔Asked many seniors about roadmaps.
✔Watched motivational videos on how to crack FAANG
✔ did everything that others were doing.
And ultimately, I found myself far away from my passion. It was disheartening because the money invested in me did not have any justice. Amid all the confusion, it somehow made me criticize myself and somehow that faith diminished.
There is a right time for everything. And when it's your time, it's YOUR TIME🎯
The sliver of hope 🕊
I was doing what I did best - watching Youtube. And there was a day when I found something different. Different from the rat race, different from what my teachers told me, and different from what my seniors told me. And that kept me hooked all over.
It was Kunal Kushwaha, the guy with the invisible cape. For those, who do not know him. He's a Youtuber and an open-source Enthusiast(and much more obvious). He introduced me to the term - GSOC.
The only best company I knew was Google and GSOC (Google summer of code ) something I wanted to be a part of. But didn't know what it was.
I researched it all over youtube but ended up getting into the loop of tutorial hell. That was frustrating. So, I left it then and there only. It included terms like a Github profile, collaboration, community, etc and that environment seemed unreal because no one here was used to it. Open source has a different work culture, which at that time seemed complex because everyone is working together but from different time zones and countries.
I continued my college studies and did what others told me to do. The same old DSA, the same old leetcode. Boring as it must sound. 🥱
But little did I know that sliver of hope was the spark that I needed to burn.
The Decision
I wanted to get out of the rat race and Kunal Kushwaha opened a new door for me. So, I did what my heart wanted to do for sure - Open Source.
✍Note: Learning new technologies is a great way because you are working on them directly.
No two developers have the same story. What makes mine a little bit different is that the growth that happened over these years is more about inner progress rather than visible ones. I know my resume is not full of internships right now.
And I will dare not criticize myself based on it, coz I've done a lot of it. It did more harm than good. So, I stayed put on my zeal to step into the open source world and lay a strong foundation for myself.
And the result was that I made it. Those confusions and judgemental thoughts have to find their way out of my head coz this girl right here never gives up.
Shout out to Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" 🎧🎶
Magic is real
If you believe there is magic in this world, the world turns out to be magical for you. As my belief and faith became strong, so did my actions toward them. I found out about codes cafe and applied for it. The day I got my email that I'm in. It was all that mattered .🎊
Things that I learned as soon as I stepped in:
I was not alone in this endeavor. There are a whole lot of woke people who know the true potential of OPENSOURCE.
It's only for me to decide what to do with my resources.
There's a helpful community out there that's got my back if I ever fall off.
People here have a giving attitude and
there's a world of endless possibilities out here.
The most valuable thiI got from of this platform was my mentors - Jyoti Bisht, Aditya Oberai, etc. Their positions and aura were such that I wanted to imbibe it from them. Supporting my juniors and standing on firm grounds of tech turned into a passion rather than a mere endeavor.
Achievements 🎀
I mentioned I have not done any internships yet. Maybe I am the least one whom you'll take reference from 😂. But the growth that I have had till now is amazing and magical. And I am damn sure one day it will be visible on the outside too.
Some of them that I touched were:
Participated in Hacktoberfest'22
Made my Pull Request merge for the very first time.
Started contributing to open source.
Made it into Social Winter of code'23.
Started attending Meet-ups, and winning swags on a regular note boosted my confidence among my peers.
Attended many virtual conferences i.e, GitHub Universe, Vercel, and Kubecon too.
Started writing Blogs, believing in the power of sharing my learnings.
Even won a blog challenge by Wemakedevs and Hash node.
Now, I know what GSOC is, lol.
Listening to myself more than the outer noise.
Finally found peace & power in solitude.
🧷The Bottom Line
Ofc, by reading the blog you guys now have the idea that I'VE JUST STARTED 🚀❤. This year was a whole lot of small wins and a steady movement. For me, it is that leveled-up version of me that I always prayed for.
2022: I want to thank you❤. You resemble one of the most prominent times of my life when I will look back and feel the proudest. You resemble the version of me that believed in herself even if she was a Nobody, when nobody believed in me but I did, you rooted for me to be Somebody.
The journey is of thousand miles which for once threatens me but I believe in my small and single steps 👣. I hope 2023 will unfold itself with grace, happiness, lessons, tears, hard work, and lots of self-love.
I have goals this year too but a mature version of me is dealing with it this time. No space for procrastination and unnecessary things that bring my energy down.
Dracarys 🐲.
With that being said, let's make open-source our new religion❤.