Developer by choice or by coincidence ?

Published 15 November 2022

My first article just came out, I admitted that I postponed it for two months. I could not hide the feeling of pride after the time of procrastination. Well, I could predict that one of the main reasons of postponing it was the idea that I do not have something to say or I have too much to say ironically.

My story began in February 2019. I was on my master's in sports marketing when my phone rang. Surprisingly, I picked up the phone was one of my friends who asked me if he could stay over at my place in London from Greece for a mini-trip. Honestly, I never expected that this meet-up would change my life forever. He mentioned that one of his college friends is also in London thus we could hang up with him like two birds with one stone.

Thanos came to my home and planned to hang out at a pub. I met his friend Nikos who was working as an iOS developer. I was starting to ask questions about his job. Honestly, half of the things he mentioned were incomprehensible. Although, I had a genuine interest in listening to him for two main reasons. Nikos was well-paid at the age of 20's while he was Thanos's best friend.

We planned to hang out at my place as it started raining p.s who was expecting that ? I will not forget that day I asked what you do as an iOS developer. He nodded his head and said, '' I will show you ''. He installed x-Code (a toolset for creating apps ) and started typing like a maniac for twenty minutes. I was no clue what all that code lines signify but I was forbearing to hear his explanation. He made a mini app that asks users basic simple math questions of subtraction. He has led me to utter confusion. As I took a step back, I realise difficult-to-grasp scenarios made me feel dumb but alive simultaneously as I labor to make sense. 

I finished my master's at Loughborough University, packed all my things, and traveled home as the sports industry shut down because of the pandemic. Hard to admit it, but no one would like to hire an inexperienced graduate when even my Britons friends have not succeeded to enter in the industry at this time. So the plan was to find a job in the sports marketing industry and then return to the Uk. The total outcome was not as I expected after 92 rejections recorded in Excel. I felt sad and pessimist about my future. Then I took the best decision I ever made in my life. I was searching for jobs where you could demonstrate your skills without a degree. My first idea was to learn Swift (the coding language Nick working with). I was frustrated and produce an error in every line. I gave up in the first week. Not possessing grass level of coding fundamentals would lead you to anger when you first try to code in most cases. For everyone that reads my article, there was a moment when I yelled ''Is not for me''. The second idea was to learn python, remembering a lot of colleagues during my master's mentioning python and data analysis as the 'future'. I started to enroll in some courses on Udemy, and after two months of self-study and dedication, I observe that I find it quite fancy but not something that I love to do. Do not get me wrong it is not easy to demonstrate that you are good at data analysis especially if you are not familiar with maths or computer science. 

My third option was to learn about web development. My first tutorial was by Colt Steele and it was the very first time that I was feeling I progressively expanded my knowledge in a learning curve. Long story short I was wondering as every developer suggests how I could practice my skills in a real-case scenario. I finally admitted to myself that I needed a project to justify and motivate the many hours I will going to spend learning about web development. Nevertheless, I could not express how strong is my willpower to prove to my parents that they wisely support me all these years mentally and financially. 

I barely mentioned I was competing as a Tae-kwon-do athlete a decade ago. I was a member of one of the greatest teams in Greece Makedoniki Dinami. It is a well-known sports club with World, European and national distinctions. The only competition this team does not possess is a medal in the Olympics. Paradoxically, Makedoniki Dinami did not have a website as their advertising was a success in the industry with word-of-mouth marketing. The owner of M.D. and also my coach has nourished me with the hope of becoming a champion from the age of 8 and he taught me how to perceive situations, something that I will expand further in one of my future articles. 

Right guess, I suggest to him to make a website about the sports club. I guarantee that I create an opportunity to make something that I love. I was ready to make something that I will be getting paid for a person that cultivate me both as a human and as an athlete. I will be honest it took me around 6 months to complete it but the most intriguing part of development for me is that it will take not more than 2 weeks to finish it right now. 

Over these six months, I made a lot of inevitable mistakes but this is all it takes to become better. People questioned how is it possible to possess 2 degrees in another field and choose another path. Well, I was not quite sure I had an answer then. Nowadays, I am confident enough to present my point of view. From my perspective, I always felt that my studies were not difficult or complex enough to make me feel smart. Furthermore, I support that the main reason was that I felt kind of inferior to my friend's related studies. I reminisce about one of them discussing engineering and the difficulties he faces when trying to improve the function of an engine, which fascinates me. That helped me a lot to understand my inner self. 

At this point in my life, I do not know if I am a developer by coincidence or by choice. It seems something more than just a string of random coincidences. We all make choices affected by arbirtary events like the decision of Thanos's London trip. The world is comprised of an uncountable number of particles interacting with each other. This article does not dig deeper into fate thus, I will not expand my opinion at least for now. My current approach is to observe actions-ideas that I might like to perform. Then I can’t feel any barriers or limitations to that, so I will try as I suggest anyone do. 

The only thing I am sure of is that I would never be able to become grateful and passionate about my life as I feel that I am working in a promising industry for the last two years.