I was on the verge of quitting my tech career for the second time. Then, a single WhatsApp notification changed everything.
My first attempt at tech was cybersecurity. I spent eight months grinding through it, but eventually, I gave up. It felt complicated, boring, and worst of all, lonely. I had no roadmap and no mentor; I spent most of my days scrolling in Stack Overflow threads, trying to make sense of things I didn’t yet understand.
Determined to try again, I transitioned into web development. I learnt HTML and CSS, but the moment I hit JavaScript, the familiar wall of frustration returned.
I was struggling with a sidebar script. It was a simple enough task, but I couldn’t get it right—the sidebar would open, but it refused to close. I posted my code in a WhatsApp group…
I was on the verge of quitting my tech career for the second time. Then, a single WhatsApp notification changed everything.
My first attempt at tech was cybersecurity. I spent eight months grinding through it, but eventually, I gave up. It felt complicated, boring, and worst of all, lonely. I had no roadmap and no mentor; I spent most of my days scrolling in Stack Overflow threads, trying to make sense of things I didn’t yet understand.
Determined to try again, I transitioned into web development. I learnt HTML and CSS, but the moment I hit JavaScript, the familiar wall of frustration returned.
I was struggling with a sidebar script. It was a simple enough task, but I couldn’t get it right—the sidebar would open, but it refused to close. I posted my code in a WhatsApp group of high school classmates who had also become "techies," then waited. Hours passed in silence. I felt that old urge to walk away, convinced I wasn’t cut out for this.
Then, my phone buzzed. A friend replied with 4 words that changed my career forever: "I’ve been there before." He didn’t just give me the answer; he validated my struggle. He pointed out that I was using the loose equality operator (==) when I needed the strict equality operator (===). It was a tiny syntax error, but it had been an insurmountable mountain when I was facing it alone.
That was my first taste of community-driven mentorship, and it changed my entire career. When I gained admission into university, I sought out developer communities where I could network, learn, and contribute.
The Power of Being Part of a Community Joining these groups didn’t just make me a better coder; it made me a professional. Here are the biggest benefits I’ve experienced: • Accelerated Problem Solving: Access to experienced mentors turns a day-long bug search into a five-minute conversation. • Staying Current: Frequent discussions about emerging technologies keep your skills from becoming stagnant. • Real-World Experience: I had the chance to collaborate on actual projects long before I landed my first official role. • Early Career Opportunities: I actually secured my very first job through a community referral. • Best Practices over Syntax: You don’t just learn how to make things work; you learn how to write clean, maintainable, and industry-standard code. • A Sense of Belonging: Tech can be isolating, but in a community, you are never left behind. • Networking at Scale: Community events allowed me to connect with experts across several fields I never would have met otherwise.
Today, I’m a member of several tech communities and even a core team member of the open source community Africa (OSCA) Ado-Ekiti chapter, not only learning from industry experts, but also giving back to the community in my own little ways
The most important lesson I’ve learned is this: You get more value from people than you do from your code. Coding might be a solo activity, but building a career is a team sport.