My Dev Journey

In this post, I will try to answer the question: What made me want to be a developer? So grab some🍿and buckle up. I'm happy to share my story with you all. And no, the answer wont be 42.

My story starts off like many before me: I'm a 90's kid whose parents got a PC quite early and I got sucked into it. I played and tinkered with the machine any time I got the opportunity. Back then it was Windows 3 and MS-DOS, it was love at first sight!

Ever since I have been fascinated by computers and how they work and the applications that they run. In the early 2000s, I got introduced to the world of social media, even if I don't think it was called that then. This was when MySpace was around and I got sucked into styling my profile pages with all the cool code to make it pop (not too impressive looking back..).

A couple of years ago, I got the opportunity to help a friend by making a webpage for a charity event she was doing. Since I had little knowledge about web development I made a webpage using WordPress with a prebuilt theme. I got my toes wet and had a blast styling it, seeing my imagination and creativity come to life, and making the signup form for the event. And the site had a lot of visitors and got lots of positive feedback from it. I was hooked and could not wait to learn more.

Not thinking that this would turn into a career I help other friends with their websites. And getting more invested in it, keeping learning new skills like CSS and JavaScript on my own. I got introduced to new technologies and new ways to explore the different ways to express my ideas and creativity. The thrill of developing something from nothing was mind-blowing and I felt that the possibility's of the web felt endless!

I have always had a will to move forward, to be better at what I'm doing. I'm a risktaker and have always done what I believed at the moment felt right and true. This has led me to work in a lot of different areas and places. I have been a Chef at the Icehotel in the northern part of Lappland. Sea-kayak instructor and business owner on the west coast. Guided hundredths of people that have never seen snow in their whole life how to ski and snowshoe-walk under the northern light in Abisko. I work as a full-time firefighter and instructor in Gothenborg metropolitan area. I strongly believe that all this combined experience has taught me who I am and where my strengths are, and also my weaknesses. And this makes me a better developer, every day.

So why did I want to be a developer? I love it! The thrill and excitement of creating something new and unique! Every day I get challenged and pushed forward, it makes me smile and feel like I belong. And to bring my own ideas to life and knowing that these ideas can end up helping others feels fantastic and rewarding, my way of making the world a better place. I hope that along this journey I will inspire and help people who have been where I was before.

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