“My name is Michael, a 32 year old web developer who resides in Lagos. I lost my dad to some medical issues. We spent a lot of money catering to his health and that was part of the reason the family had financial constraints. My mother lives in the village and depends on me to provide support for the family. This led me to get a job but even with the job, I was seeking opportunities to improve my skills, so I started exploring frontend development.
I saw a link to the I4G Student Builds study program on a whatsapp group and joined, uncertain about what to expect but hopeful. Inspired by the goals and program outline, I joined the backend group, with the hope to explore backend and possibly fit into fullstack development. In no time, from knowing nothing about backend at all, I started my journey and stepped foot into learning NodeJs.
Before the program, I had no experience completing tasks. In the program however, my github was so populated, creating all kinds of things and acing my projects. One of the things I enjoyed was the weekly tasks. The tasks were made to help me build key professional work ethics and skills. I also appreciated the guidance and mentorship provided during the program and enjoyed being accountable to them. I remember talking to my group mentor about my challenges while learning Django and NodeJS and my mentor guided me through it.
At some point, I found it challenging joggling my job and participating in the program. The meetings at work, my job deliverables and deadlines, workplace activities and so many other things were all competing for my attention. But I made a resolve to work harder and make time for the program. At home I had issues with power, so I spent extra hours at my workplace, leveraging the power supply to help me catch up on program deadlines.
During the program, I learned relevant skills and executed tasks that made me realize I could start doing valuable things and increase my earning power. Now I feel really empowered and believe that with a little more effort on my part, I’ll be able to fluently express myself through coding. Before now, I was just lashing in all directions and could barely concentrate on one thing. This program and the guidance provided set me on the right path and I am looking to maximize the gains from it. I am determined to become an amazing software developer, working and earning big for myself to provide even more for my family. Ingressive for Good is just amazing. All of these resources and mentorship were provided for free, we didn’t pay a dime yet, it was such a premium experience.”