It will be 2023 in a few weeks; I can't believe this.

Hello everyone👋🏽

My name is Ijay

I want to use this medium to share my experience as a developer.

When I first started as a developer, it was a roller coaster ride, and there are days when I wonder if I am on the right path or am wasting my time and data. I continued despite my doubts, putting more effort into what I was doing.

I began the year 2022 by joining the Chingu internship program. which is a six-week internship program that allowed me to collaborate with other developers and gain hands-on experience in the field. This program helped me build my confidence in my abilities and develop web applications without relying so much on tutorials.

After completing the program in March, I continued to learn and improve my skills. I focused on React and followed the Net Ninja comprehensive tutorial series on the topic Full Modern React Tutorial by The Net Ninja.

I highly recommend the Chingu internship program to other developers, especially beginner developers looking to gain practical experience and improve their technical skills.

As the months kept rolling by, I also expanded my knowledge by exploring other programming languages.

One highlight I had this year was being a Technical writer: As an introvert, I found that writing was a way to communicate with people, but I never took it seriously until recently. Writing down what I learned from tutorials helped me to have a better understanding of the tutorial videos and documentation because I had to explain it in a way that readers could understand. For example, I wrote an article titled Understanding Common React Hooks, which was well-received. The experience I gained from writing that article boosted my confidence level.

Towards October, I participated in Hacktoberfest contributions. I thought I wouldn't pull through because I had other demanding engagements, but, praise God, I was able to make 4 pull requests, which were needed to be eligible as a contributor.

I was sent a badge showing my level and progress

A mail to confirm my contribution

All this made me excited and want to contribute more to open-source

Another highlight for me was joining Co.lab This was an opportunity I got through an online community I belong to, where we share ideas, get to ask questions, and interact with like-minded people.

I encourage developers to join AdoraHack Study Groups.

N.B This is not a paid Ad or anything; personally, it has been beneficial to me.

Joining Co. Lab provided me with valuable experience. I always wanted to know what it was like to work with a cross-functional team. I felt like a real developer 😂. Co. Lab made me come out of my shell a little. I had to present something for my team as one of the developers, and that was a big deal for me, apart from developing (coding).

In conclusion, 2022 has been a learning year for me, and I've made lots of discoveries about myself.

I won't lie; there were times when I wanted to throw my laptop away because my application wouldn't work properly due to one silly bug or when I was rejected as an intern for Outreachy's internship program.

The year 2022 has been a turning point for me as a developer. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience that has helped me grow and become more confident in my abilities.

I am grateful for 2022 and looking forward to 2023.