It’s been 3 months now and I work as a part-time Software Developer Coach (JavaScript) with Raise.dev. During this term I have been mentoring for the Major League Hacking - MLH Fellowship program. The graduation is on 18th December and I was asked to record a ~2 minute graduation speech.

Major League Hacking - MLH graduation speech December 2020

The following is an excerpt from my graduation speech to the MLH fellows graduating in December 2020.

Hello everyone, congratulations to the graduating batch. You have come this far, finished a term successfully despite the pandemic, so this is something you will definitely cherish one day. At the beginning of the fellowship, we had a Q&A and one fellow asked -

Does life as a software developer ever get boring after years of work?

Now that you have completed a term, I would like to answer by asking all of you,

• How does it feel? Are you bored?
• Was it challenging?
• Were the days exciting?
• Did you think of giving up?

Now, take a moment to reflect on the thing you did prior to this fellowship. It could be your college graduation, or a recent university exam. Do you notice any similarities with the questions I just asked?

• Boring
• Challenging
• Exciting
• Give up

Life as a software developer too goes through these phases, most of the time!

Failures and success

Failures will come along the way; you may not get your desired promotion or it might take a lot of time until you land your first job.

When I graduated in 2009, almost 11 years ago, there was a global recession and things didn’t go as planned for me. I cried a lot the day after my first failed job interview. It was the first biggest failure for me.

Looking back at it, If I were to advice my younger self, then I would say that everything happens for good.

If you aren’t being rejected more than accepted, you’re not asking for enough, reaching high enough and valuing yourself enough. Try new things, do things you are scared of.

Goals and habits

If the plan does not work, change the plan, have a plan B! Avoid changing the goal itself! Most importantly, have a goal in your life, always!

It’s the tiny habits that you will cultivate along the way that will help you shape your career into a successful one. Be honest, trustworthy and be true to yourself and your job.

Don’t be guilty if you decide to binge watch Netflix or just get a good sleep and enjoy being lazyful over the weekends.

Take breaks, drink water, workout, focus on your health. Health is wealth.

Nothing is easy and you need to keep learning and working hard all the time. Work hard, but smart!

I wish you all the best!