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Hey. It’s been some time since I wrote a weekly review. I’ve been writing a lot in my notebooks lately, most of them are related to personal improvement and trying to understand more about myself, what I’m currently going through.
Honestly, I never had too much perspective to life as I have now. Too much good stuff happened all at once: I got an opportunity as a freelance developer, then I got another great opportunity as a developer in a startup, then I got yet another absurdly great freelance project to work with.
Looking back
Before all of this I was almost giving software development at all (at least for the rest of this year). A year ago I took some time off from UFLA and started studying at a uni closer to where my family lived, then after some time I quit it to start working full time as barista/waiter/attendant at a coffee shop in my town. At first it was because I wanted to save some money and try going back to UFLA in 2026.
After some days working at the coffee shop I got really discouraged as to try becoming a software dev, for no specific reason other than I thought I wasn’t going to be able to hold my stuff together anymore (maybe some stronger type of impostor syndrome, I don’t actually know). I was basically settling for taking the quiet life in my town: Working at the coffee shop, saving some money for going out once in a while, maybe try becoming a software dev later again in life. Anyway, I was ready to settle.
Well, I didn’t. I don’t know why, but I didn’t gave up.
- I kept running
- I kept reading literature and philosophy
- I kept consuming content online about neuroscience
- I kept studying one thing or another in web dev
- I kept showing up to sibelius’ Discord channel and learning things every day
I kept doing stuff with no actual expectations.
- then I got a PR merged into Jest
- then I got an opportunity at Entria/Feedback House
- I learned more about GraphQL Relay
- I learned about MongoDB Aggregations
- I learned about Node.js Streams
- then I got an opportunity as a software developer at Beyond Co
- then I got new incredible freelance project to work with
And it’s being great. In some ways, I kept doing what I always did, with the slight difference that I get paid for some of it now, but that definitely isn’t what kept and keeps me going (even though it truly helps).
A crucial part of this is being part of a community, for me it means:
- learning in public @ x/twitter
- participating Sibelius’ mentorship
- participating Growly Group
You can ping me on twitter (DM’s might not work because of too much spam) or contact me if you want an invite
Disclaimer
I first learned what programming was in 2019. It’s been roughly 6 years that I’m trying to land a solid opportunity that fits what I expect for my life.
It was not easy. I almost quit more times than I can count. It was and it is being worth it.
What’s next?
As Kierkegaard puts it (and as Steve Jobs mentioned in this speech - I recommend you watch it):
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
You can only connect the dots when you look back, but you must live your life forwards, having faith that some day, somehow, the dots will connect.
For me, it means improving, keep getting better as a developer, as a friend, as a human being.