Grab a coffee and let's talk

This is my first post and it's not going to be tech-related. I just want to share with everyone my journey as I know there are people out there thinking the same things I used to think before I make the biggest decision in my life.

My whole life I remember myself telling everyone that I know what I want to do when I grow up and I was so sure about that, but I couldn't be more wrong. I grew up on a small island where my family owned a small business, it was a store in which we were selling sim cards and mobile phones, I always wanted to learn how to repair mobile phones and computers in order to work on our business and expand it. All my dreams were based on that little store.

When I finished school I found a private college that had a class that was teaching exactly what I wanted and I still remember how excited I was for the journey that was about to begin. In my first year in college, I had a course called 'Introduction to programming' where I learned the basics, but from that moment I felt something special about programming, I understood the power and possibilities that one can have knowing how to code. I remember spending endless hours practicing and reading books, but my mind was still on the original plan.

Then I started thinking about what I could do to combine programming and repairs. So I decided to start a website to promote my store, and then I started learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I spent almost both of my years in college reading about both programming and repairs.

As soon as I finished college I returned to the island and started doing repairs in our store. In the beginning, I had so much energy to work, and within a year we opened a second store based only on repairs. The shops were going perfectly, we had a lot of work, I was making € 4,000 to € 5,000 a month. But after about a year I started feeling like I was drowning in the store, that I was not productive, I started going crazy... And I said to myself, I can't imagine working here for the rest of my life.

Then I remembered that feeling I had in college when I was learning about programming and how nice I was feeling while I was writing code. I was feeling productive, calm, and free. So I started reading again and this time more intensely because I only had one thing on my mind, to quit my current job and start working as a programmer. I remember clearly that I couldn't decide with what language to start, everything seemed so complicated to me. Then I called the teacher who taught me programming in college and told him my thoughts, he encouraged me a lot and told me to do exactly what I love, I remember that his words You are so young, you should follow your heart as you have a lot of time to make mistakes too. If you fail at least you will know that you tried, but if you don't try you will regret it for the rest of your life. His words gave me a huge boost to continue, and then he started explaining to me how is to work as a developer, he told me about the front end, back end, dev-ops, etc...

I found the front end more interesting and I started learning JavaScript and React. I remember that I started reading in February and from then until August I was reading at least 5-6 hours a day, every single day... Everyone was going to the beach or to the clubs and I wasn't doing anything, just focused on reading and working on side projects to improve my skills. And then after 6 months, I decided to announce to everyone that I will quit my job to become a programmer. Everyone was making fun of me, judging me, telling me you have a job-ready, do not be ungrateful. Then I realized that I did very well not to say anything to anyone from the beginning because they would have made me give up, but the moment I told them I was so sure of my decision that I would not let anyone influence me. The only person who knew and supported me from the beginning was my girlfriend, and I really owe everything to her.

In the 7th month, I started applying to jobs on Linkedin, and I remember every single company rejecting me, I couldn't get even one interview and that was all I wanted, just one interview as I was pretty confident of my skills and I needed that one opportunity. One day I finally see an email from a company in the United Kingdom that wanted to do an interview with me, honestly, I don't think there are words to describe this feeling, after so much effort finally the future is on my hands, if I have prepared well I will get the job, otherwise it's my fault.

After a couple of days, they send me an invitation for the interview, it was a 30 minutes tech interview, just some questions about JavaScript and React. Then it was a 2-hour technical interview, question, and practical exercises on JavaScript and React to understand my level. Then the last one was a cultural interview to see if I am a good fit for the company or if the company is a good fit for me. While I was in the interview process, the days seemed to be longer and I couldn't wait for a call in order to let me know if I had passed for the next interview. After I finished all the interviews I was waiting for an email to tell me if I made it or not. Then the miracle happened, I received an email with a job offer... I was jumping up and down for hours. I couldn't believe that I made it, I couldn't believe that I proved everyone wrong and all my effort finally worked out.

I obviously accepted the job offer, but that was only the first step. After that, I had to move from my small island to the United Kingdom which was 4 hours and 20 minutes far away by plane. Thankfully the company helped me a lot with the relocation and everything went smoothly.

Now, after 9 months I am still in the United Kingdom and writing my first post from my apartment. I don't regret my decision not even for a moment. I am so happy in the place I am now, I've gained so much experience in life and in work, and I feel more complete as a person.

I hope this post helps some people who have difficulty deciding between what they love and what they feel safe with. You have to leave your comfort zone in order to succeed.

Please forgive me for my English, I'm really trying to improve. 😃

Thank you very much for your time.