My journey as a programmer in India

Is this post only for Indians? Not actually but yeah it is more inclined towards them because so is my experience. But still, stay tuned because I can assure it will resonate somewhere with your journey too. This is gonna be long so grabbing a cup of coffee, sit relaxed and start.

It all started with HTML in class 8th when I wanted to create websites. I got this old Toshiba laptop which took around 15 minutes just to boot ( those lovely slow days). I learned the complete computer book’s code but still wanted more and then I took the help of “sololearn” (no promotion) and coded more and more and class over. Class over because my laptop broke down.

I kept learning Java in class 9th and 10th as it was in my school syllabus but I wasn’t too good at it as I just mugged the theory. As my laptop was broken I didn’t stop there, I learned Networking from an app “cybrary.it” and did the course called “COMPTIA A+” from my phone alone. Then by the end of December 2017, my dad gifted me a new hp laptop (8 GB SSD ram and it boots smooth lol). Then I practiced a lot of Java, Data structures and other stuff.

December 2017- the confused new eve

After I scored 92.4% in class 10th I was all-day high. Not in that way high, high as if I was tony stark. By now I get to know I have a craze for computers so I decided to learn more. I thought to learn to hack as then I can be popular among my classmates and you know that’s what every teenager wants. I started learning to hack and realized after 4–5 googles that I need to learn Php for reverse hacking, I started learning PHP but then found out I need to learn HTML to destructure websites, so I started learning HTML, then I get to know about terms like “front-end” and “back-end” developers, “full-stack” and everything and I loved to see all those bright colored codes.

So just because of this, I decided to learn web development. and from here the second part of my journey started.

The not so high school, high school

By now I reached class 12th and at least knew that I wanted to learn web development, the only question was “how?” and “what”.

I started with HTML then one of my Instagram friends got impressed with my codes and gifted his “Udemy” account with tons of courses and I learned ‘CSS’ from them. If you follow me on Instagram and go through the highlight “programming” you can actually see all the development I have done.

Then I started learning Javascript from the book “Eloquent Javascript” , hard but an awesome book. and I entered the third and toughest part of my programming journey.

My 26 hours day

As I already mentioned I was in class 12th by now I can’t manage time for both studies and web development, plus I was engaged in more of teenage stuff so time managing was a serious issue. I still remember how she told me to “focus on what matters to you” and I did the exact.

All those sleepless nights, All those hard debugging stages and harsh days. The journey was tough, actually tougher then I know. As soon as I end up learning one thing, I see some other better technology. But I kept learning I then learnt React (by Facebook) for the “MVC” (Media View Control) model.

And finally, I made this website for a local restaurant- https://twobrother-0927.firebaseapp.com/#/ (though they never pay my bad lol).

I remember the day when I downloaded kali Linux and ran it on a virtual machine I didn’t sleep the entire night. Just kept running commands over the terminal ( stupid teenagers ).

Web developer with 83%

By the end of May 2019 when the high school results were released, I realized I made it, I became a web developer but one with 83% marks :D

Do I doubt my decision? No. It doesn’t matter to me because when I look back now I thank myself for learning the things at the right time. I won’t say, my parents demoralized me, they were the ones who gave me this laptop, But yeah they also told me academics lies before programming. But I was a dumb eager, full of silly ideas kid, roaming around the streets of deep webs, and here it comes, the current stage.

I never stopped learning

Today I work as a Freelancer, I know HTML, CSS, SASS, Bootstrap, Javascript, JQuery, React, Redux, C, Java, Python, Firebase, Reactstrap, PWA apps, NodeJS and skills like Networking, Digital Marketing, Data Science, Web Development, Search Engine Optimization, Content Writing, Graphic Designing and can earn enough money.

I never had enough time, we went through much financial crisis, I lacked resources, but I never stopped. Many days the question in my mind was “Will it matter?”, and now I know the answer “Yes, it does!”.

See I could succeed because this is what was my passion. No matter how hard it is, if you go for your passion, and all-time just for passion, you will definitely achieve success.

Last words

“Everyone can’t be extraordinary, because then by definition no one is extraordinary”- the subtle art of not giving a F*ck.

Not only academics many books like the above one helped me a lot in understanding my inner self. If you have a passion start working for it, from TODAY, if you think today you don’t have time, you will not ever have.

I will love to be a part of your programming journey, for feedbacks or any help you can mail me at aashishpeepra.ap@gmail.com. We can code together.