Welcome to my career journey notes! This blog will take you through the steps that have shaped me up to this point. I’ll be sharing the ups and downs, valuable lessons, and key moments that color my professional journey. Let’s start from the beginning…
This all started back when I was in middle school. At that time, I was in my final year, which means in just one year, I would graduate from middle school. No need to say much, I'll just give you a quick summary of my timeline from then to now.
I graduated from Junior High School in 2020, right in the middle of the “coronavirus pandemic“. I didn’t really complete my classes fully because there was a 2-year school break due to this virus, so during that time, I just learned at home with the available lessons because there was a “lockdown” in the country.
During the school holidays, I only played Minecraft Pocket Edition on my mobile device and tried to create a simple YouTube account that featured content about Minecraft shaders, with some basic editing. I began to dive deeper into Minecraft shaders, specifically trying to create my own shader. Yes, I started learning GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) so that the shader could work, and I also joined the WebGL community from Shadertoy. Actually, GLSL is the first programming language I learned in my life before getting to know other languages like JavaScript, Java, Python, and others. I didn't expect that this language I was learning would be considered difficult to learn, but I kept studying it because of my curiosity.
I managed to create my first Minecraft shader using GLSL that's suitable for low-end mobile device specifications, making it lightweight to use even though there might be a lot of issues I'm unaware of. The results are pretty noticeable, and many people are using my shader, so some content creators even reviewed it. You can see the results here.
A few months later, in the midst of the pandemic, I started attending a Vocational High School for Multimedia. I felt like this was the right choice for me, so I learned graphic design using CorelDRAW and HTML with Notepad. Even though my school hours were really limited due to the government's rules about activities during the pandemic.
I was really thinking I want to be an editor because I really enjoy editing videos using Kinemaster with whatever resources I have. At that time, I still had a YouTube account that was almost close to reaching 1000 subscribers. So I was super excited about editing.
As days go by, I’m getting more interested in design hobbies because my school major focuses on this field, so I’ve been thinking about becoming a graphic designer. I managed to create some simple projects like posters and typography designs. I wasn't really familiar with HTML back then.
There's a little direction, I started to recognize articles and blogs. I began writing content on Blogger with whatever I could pull together from a few other sources. Not just that, I also started digging into HTML to customize my Blogger page a bit better with the basic skills I picked up in school. You can check out My blogger page here.
This year, I'm really close to graduating from school. Honestly, I'm confused about what skills I have because I've spent too much time playing games instead of focusing on learning editing and design. I don't even believe in the design skills I've picked up in school. My HTML skills are still pretty minimal, and I've deleted my YouTube account, so now I don't know what to do.
This is where it all started, I began to learn HTML and CSS more deeply on my own from YouTube and articles. I started picking up tips and tricks on how to write clean syntax and some principles. At that time, I only knew KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid!) and DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself). I just watched some tutorials on YouTube, and I finally started to grasp the basics of HTML like attributes, semantics, and best practices. I even got the hang of some basic CSS concepts like properties and values.
This year, I've found my direction in life, and I've discovered some references for what I want to study and the major I'll choose to avoid mistakes. So yeah, I'm going with computer science. I'm really confident about this choice and want to take it seriously because I've already learned the basics of this subject, and now I'm getting familiar with JavaScript and GitHub, plus I've even learned the basics of Git.
I've really gotten into coding as a hobby, so now I can use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript well enough to create simple projects with the help of AI and tutorials from YouTube. I've also started to get to know CodePen and Replit to publish my projects openly, apart from GitHub. You can check out my CodePen and new Replit account here.
In a few months, I'll be starting college as a freshman, and I've started learning the basic syntax of programming languages. The languages I've been learning are PHP, C, C++, Java, and Python. I've been picking up these programming languages on my own from various sources, one of them being W3Schools. My goal in learning these basic syntaxes is so that when I start college, I won't be surprised when I'm given coding assignments.
This year, I’ve figured out my life direction, and I found some references for what I want to study and the major I’ll choose to avoid making any mistakes. So yeah, I’m going with Computer Science. I’m really confident about this choice and want to take it seriously because I’ve already learned the basics of the subject, and now I’m starting to get familiar with TypeScript.
I've already gone through the first semester, and now I'm heading into the second semester. In between, there’s a really long break from college! I'm using that free time to code. I've started learning CSS frameworks like Bootstrap and Tailwind CSS, as well as JavaScript frameworks like React.js and Vue.js. I'm really diving into this with excitement because I totally believe in my skills, and in the end, I started getting to know Vite, which really helps me use the framework.
While I was learning about frameworks, I started looking into user interface principles to make sure users enjoy using the websites I create. Eventually, I began to get the hang of UI/UX design. I learned a bit about designing websites and apps using Figma, and on the side, I started checking out Dribbble and Behance. I managed to finish a simple UI/UX design project and showcased it to the community on my Dribbble.
I accidentally searched for “can you make a website without coding?” and that's where I discovered something new. I found Framer and Webflow that are great for building websites without much coding. In the end, I got interested in learning the basics of both. However, I didn't continue because I thought it wasn't quite right for my coding hobby, especially since I'm currently learning a JavaScript framework.
I just finished my second semester, long break again! Before the third semester, I’m going to learn the basic syntax of programming again, like R, Go, Kotlin, and C#. This self-learning process is pretty tough for me because I’m starting to learn a lot of programming languages with different syntax, while I’m just focusing on the basics of those languages. In the end, I’m only concentrating on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Java.
I'm really enjoying deepening my JavaScript skills with TypeScript, so I've made it my favorite language. My curiosity has sparked again, and right now I'm learning some new frameworks like Angular, Svelte, and Astro, along with Laravel too! But my brain can't handle learning all these frameworks at once, so I'm just managing to grasp the basics. So, I'm focusing more on diving deeper into the Laravel framework.
Right now, I'm getting curious about the Python programming language. I'm starting to delve back into it with some libraries like NumPy and Pandas, but just the basics. Not only that, I'm also learning Python frameworks like Flask and Django along with Express framework too. I've managed to create a simple back-end web project using a Python and Node.js framework. I'm thinking about not continuing with these frameworks because I feel like I've already learned too many of them.
I've already worked on a bunch of web projects using JavaScript frameworks, and I even created projects just with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I feel like I have a bit of experience in front-end web development. You can check out all the projects I've made on my GitHub account, they're all open source.
I really want to learn programming more in depth, and finally I found free certified courses to sharpen my skills, which is very helpful for me in learning programming languages and best practices more deeply. For now, my favorites for obtaining free certificates are FreeCodeCamp, Sololearn, Hackerrank, Dicoding, and LinkedIn. There are a few that are paid, but I take advantage of the free opportunity for once.
I’ve just finished my third semester! Before jumping into my fourth semester, I thought about wanting to learn something other than web development. Eventually, I started studying Android app development using Android Studio. I feel super lucky because I had already learned the basics of Kotlin programming before, so I get what’s going on in each step of the tutorial.
I'm still learning to improve my career as a programmer. I have a portfolio and a personal website that anyone can check out, and I’ll keep learning until I reach my goals. I also have my own personal blog that anyone can access.
Throughout my career, there are a few valuable lessons that I always hold on to:
Thanks for taking the time to read about my career journey. I hope this story can inspire you or at least be a good read to share.
In the hustle and bustle of modern life, we often get caught up in busy routines, especially when it comes to studying. Academic demands, work, and other responsibilities can make us forget how important it is to take breaks. But getting enough rest is the key to keeping our physical and mental health in check […]
Content Writer
Ever heard the phrase “I want to be a programmer but I’m too lazy to code”? To be honest, you’re not alone! Many people are interested in the world of information technology (IT) and its bright career potential, but feel intimidated by the complicated coding process that requires a lot of persistence. The good news […]
Content Writer
In web development, we know that the <select> element is often used to show a list of options to users. But when the list of options is super long, it’s better to group those options together to make it easier to navigate. That’s where the <optgroup> element comes in. Previously, do you know what this […]
Content Writer