My Journey as a Developer: The Wins, The Struggles, and Everything in Between

posted Originally published at medium.com 2 min read

I wanted to be a programmer. I coded, I failed, I repeated. That’s the story of my life as a developer. But through all the struggles, I learned one thing, failure isn’t the end. It’s just part of the process.

The Start

Like many others, I had an interest in STEM and figured software development was the obvious career path. I thought learning to code would automatically lead to greatness. But reality hit hard — I struggled, I failed classes, and at times, I questioned if I was even cut out for this.

Coding became a chore. I didn’t enjoy it anymore, but I was too deep into my major to quit. Besides, this was all I knew. So I pushed forward and graduated, barely scraping by.

The Journey

Graduating felt like a fresh start. I thought, At least I can get a job in tech, work on cool projects, and finally prove myself.

But life had other plans.

  • I applied for jobs and landed one in tech, but I wasn’t coding.
  • I realized I had a massive amount of debt, so I picked up a second job.
  • Then a third job.
  • Then… I got scammed.
  • Then… I got COVID.

All of this happened within the first two years after college. I was juggling three jobs, and only one of them was in tech — where I wasn’t even coding. It felt like I was stuck.

The Wins

I wanted better for myself, so I stepped out of my comfort zone.

I joined a community called Grammerhub on discord and relearned how to code.

  • I worked on improving my skills and breaking into the industry properly.
  • I earned an Azure certification — a huge win.
  • I studied for another certification… and failed.
  • I took it again… and failed, but with a better score.
  • I tried a third time — and finally passed.

Even with these wins, imposter syndrome kicked in. Am I even good enough to be a developer? Do I really belong here?

But when I looked back, I saw just how far I had come. I had failed, struggled, and doubted myself — but I had also grown. And then, the biggest win happened: I landed a new job where I actually get to code.

The Lesson

Through all of this, I realized one simple truth: failure is part of the process.

As developers, we break things, debug, and try again. Learning to embrace failure — not fear it — is the key to growth. Every setback is just another lesson that makes us better.

So if you’re struggling as a developer, just know: failure isn’t the end. It’s proof that you’re learning.

Have you faced similar struggles in your coding journey? Let’s talk in the comments!

If you read this far, tweet to the author to show them you care. Tweet a Thanks

Really inspiring story — thanks for sharing it so openly! Totally felt the part about doubting yourself but still pushing through. How did you stay motivated during those tough moments when nothing seemed to be working out?

I just kept on telling myself everything happens for a reason. You may not know that reason is but it will all work out in the end.

Thank you for sharing. We all continue to fail fast, or not so fast, and iterate.

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