Connecting the dots: How I became a Software Engineer?
This article is about how I became a software engineer, someone who helped me become one and everything that led to it and followed thereafter. We all know Rumi. But do we know the man behind him? The wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz made Rumi a world famous poet from Rumi, the scholar. I believe we all are disproportionate fractions of where we are born, where we grew up, who we loved, who loved us, and a hundred other things. It’s important to connect these dots to be grateful and mindful of each and every element that shaped us.
I wrote my first program when I was 5 year old. You must be thinking, “oh that’s why you can code”. No, that’s not why. The first few programs I wrote I would say my 5–6 year self did pretty well. I got great scores. I always topped the class.
Then I moved cities. I moved from a school that was teaching addition in the third grade to a school that was solving complicated number problems. I got 2/50 in a language exam. Everything was beyond I could do, and everyone was better than me. For the first time I felt, I would fail a grade. My parents got very worried and I was studying non stop. This coupled with a lot of other issues I was facing at home made an already introverted kid - very underconfident. Finally, in two years I was able to get decent scores. That phase made and broke me in many ways. I would like to think that I became more resilient to external factors. For years to come, I tried to work on my confidence with public speaking and dancing. However, I know I never really broke through that barrier inside me.
All this while I was studying Computer Science on and off as part of the school curriculum but I never really stood out or consistently got good scores. For the most part, I managed to be above average but one time I barely passed the exam. My parents got worried again. This time I got worried too. I decided to join a private tutoring school for computer science where the toppers of my class would go. I started getting better but mostly off memorizing algorithms. Technically by this time, I should have known Logo, GW Basic and Java.
Then, I moved again. This time to a different school. I decided to take up Computer Science with C++ as an optional subject. There were three reasons. One: I did not want to take up biology seeing how fat the book was, two: I did not want to take up Hindi considering I struggled to read it (remember the 2/50 trauma) and three: I knew C++ is an OOO (Object Oriented Language) and so was Java which would probably save me a lot time and effort. So I thought let’s make a strategic decision and take Computer Science, consciously also considering that I did manage to get more than a 90/100 in it in the national exams. Voila!
The first day at class, I solved a programming question as fast as another exceptional student of my class did. There’s a secret to this though, I already knew the algorithm. I just made some tweaks to make it faster. Something that happened after that was beyond what I could comprehend. The teacher told me, “This is good. Your code is faster than what I wrote”. She took my code and wrote it on the whiteboard for others to note down. Nobody really noticed but I had just experienced something that I didn’t in a long time. After the class she told me, “You are good at this, you should take up another Computer Science Optional Subject”. Therefore, I took up Web Technology (HTML, ASP, XML , Databases etc). Without realizing she changed the course of my life forever and I am eternally grateful to her.
Then I moved again. This time cities. I went on to take Computer Science Engineering in Grad School and leaving Kolkata(against the decision of my parents and a global recession that resulted in Software and Financial Firms firing people rampantly). I already knew most things. I was good because I was ahead of what most people knew. I did well. I got my first job almost without an interview. Back in grad school, I lived off of very little(remember the part about going against my family to move out of Kolkata). I had to make money as I didn’t want to ask for money from them. I started Freelance Web development, technical and academic writing. There was a LOT of demand for it. I got a lot of work, which I couldn’t handle myself. I asked others to help me write and code. At one point I had 60 content creators working for me. I made money and here’s the best part, unknowingly I was a business owner.
Eventually, I cracked almost all coding interviews that I appeared in. I did write a lot of code and technical content for a living. Hence, cracking coding interviews was an indirect benefit. I wanted to go abroad with as less investement as possible. I applied for scholarships all over the world. Destiny brought me to Japan. I got multiple scholarships, made money out of my business, scholarships, part time gigs, software development, and stocks. I interned for big tech companies. I got a job at one. Then I thought, I should give back to people who shaped me. How could I give back because often times they have drifted away and perhaps don’t need me? Then I thought, a great way of giving back would be to people who need it. Therefore, I joined an NPO called Women Who Code. A couple of years later, I got promoted to the Director of Women Who Code Tokyo.
At this point you see the dots ? I’ve written down all the dots that shaped me into what I am today. And it’s all connected. What are the dots that have shaped you?
