Do you also have such a friend? Or maybe it's you?
My friend is almost 32 and he is a programmer (java developer, if you want). Previously, I liked to read âmotivesâ about how people come to IT, I read them in batches, and each next one, although it was similar to the previous one, gave a fresh sip of positive and optimistic belief in a bright future and miracles. The story of my friend might also serve as a âmotiveâ for someone, and since there is at least a small chance for this, it needs to be told.
My friend comes from a small village (~ 1-2k people), pictured is a view from the outskirts
He studied well at school, was an excellent student and would certainly have received a gold medal (although who needs them now), if it were not for the total generic hatred of the school leadership for his family and, as a result, for him (an excellent example for explaining the principle of PLO is âinheritanceâ) .
At the age of 14, he had a computer, and the first games, but by the way, it didnât mean anything, he didnât wake up craving for computer science, programming and development in this direction, I think this can be attributed to the lack of the Internet.
At 16 he was "enrolled" at the institute. It was they who did it because he himself absolutely did not care what would happen next after school: summer was in the yard, and he was 16, and he had his first love.
Fortunately, my friendâs mother guessed and placed him in a technical institute, it was the Yekaterinburg Institute of Communications (now GOU VPO URTISI SibGUTI), where he successfully studied for the next 5 years.
A distinguishing feature of that time was, almost 90 percent, the uselessness of the material received, which was not useful in practice, from the word "completely", but then an inquisitive reader would say that they say "received general development, studied, and not degraded," and I agree.
From something related to programming at that time, my friend could mention the first course and one semester of lectures on programming in Delphi, at the end of the course (which was bought for 200 rubles, in the yard was 2010), that's all.
After the institute and the army, my friend went to work in his specialty, feeling himself extremely useful, but for some reason completely useless for anyone. I looked for work for a very long time (echoes of the 2008 economic crisis may have affected) and eventually got a job in a company of a mobile operator of local importance, having received the position of Engineer and received a salary of 12,000 rubles (2011).
The work of an engineer, about which 5 years was told at the institute, was strikingly different from the work in favor of the local mobile operator: a friend was engaged in the operation of base stations, which, as everyone probably knows, are located in cities and villages, and highways, mainly in metal containers 2 * 3 meters , outside a tower with antennas, inside a precious (in the literal sense
Among other things, I had to mow the grass around the container (fire safety requirement), carry iron (probably you heard about the norms of the Customs Code, that a man is allowed to lift so many kg per day? It didnât work there), climb roofs, masts ( itâs especially joyful to do this in winter, in frost), regularly on duty and wake up at night from the calls of the duty officer, jump at 3 a.m. in the car and drive somewhere a hundred kilometers to straighten the twisted pair in the connector, and it is strictly necessary to wash yourself the floor leaving the container.
Unfortunately, the views at this work opened only to the city, but not to prospects:
This was all about romance, which at first really warmed my soul and turned a blind eye to inconvenience: traveling work, often on the road (you can sleep), you can often do the job faster than expected (and sleep), you can call during business hours on business (if the driver Today is normal), and he also knew all the most delicious and cheap canteens in Ekb and the region.
Summer bonuses are especially pleasant: I went to the object - I stopped by for a swim, but you can take meat in the store (or you can also have beer) and go to work with your lunch, since the grill was always in the driver's car. And most importantly, bosses never stand above their heads, with rare exceptions.
Speaking about those days, my friend notes that at that time there was a clear feeling that he was in his place and everything was fine, he had enough money (a strange mistake, although the young one may need less finances to feel happy than mature) , the work "not sedentary, you will not get bored", well, he was respected in the team. Can you imagine what kind of team there is? People are simple, and without respect in such a teamitâs impossible to work hard.
He got married and gradually life slipped into one global âgroundhog dayâ, which he later called the âcomfort zoneâ. Work -> home -> wife -> beer -> TV shows -> World Of Warcraft (so that the wife doesnât interfere with playing, he also hooked her on a varic, acool life hack by the way ) - weekend -> long beautiful conversations with father-in-law about a bright future (it is not clear on what basis) under cognac -> again ...
Once, after a couple of years, the boss called him and said (verbatim): âprepare your ambitions and wishes for the RFP for the position of senior engineerâ, this was the second âfeatâ at work (the first is the completion in 1 month term), he was very proud of him then, there were many colleagues who worked much longer, but they did not receive the position of senior engineer.
By the way, the ambition about the ZP could be unlimited, but within the limits indicated by the authorities, itâs quite an earthly framework.
The fact of career growth and the growth (insignificant) of the RFP only strengthened the feeling that "everything is going according to plan."
2015 was marked by a divorce from his wife, wild depression, drunkenness, for the first time in 27 years, my friend lit a cigarette, said that most likely, the reason for this was a banal self-pity (if at all for purity) and nothing more, a way to draw attention to how his broke, and broke strongly.
In the midst of this period, my friend's classmate, who at that time was working as a developer, began to tell how cool it was. As proof, he cited the numbers of his RFP (and he started with the same engineer in the same company), talked about java and showed some simple program, I think the burning eyes of the speaker were the determining factor here, and the ability to present information - my friend became interested ...
In memory of those times, he says that he began to read the first java-book by Y. Fayn âProgramming for Grandfathers and Grandmothersâ without much self-confidence, if he had been told that he would become a developer, he would never have believed, and laughed at face to the speaker. There was clearly articulated confidence ! , the postulate is that even the idea that you can become a programmer is absurd, seditious and partly insane, it is at about the same level as the idea of ââflying into space.
Next were the first standard things: a calculator, tic-tac-toe. And you know what? Nothing, He was not hooked at all. It was fun (and not the most fun), no more.
Fortunately, the illusions about my current work at that time have already passed, like the craving for youthful romance and adventure, the last straw was trauma and sick leave and the thought that itâs very easy to be left without money, working with your hands, itâs enough to damage these hands and you are useless.
Rather, from despair, and not from deep awareness, and even more so not from a craving for programming, the book O`Relly by Head First Java was bought, it was bought, but not downloaded from the Internet, for 1800r, and so for him a book for that kind of money was a rather expensive purchase, it was decided to finish it to the end, under any circumstances, in order to at least somehow justify its value.
And then it really came in, I remember how my friend was happy, like a child, when he realized what a Java constructor and the keyword this are. And gradually the idea that they say "not mine, it is difficult, etc." began to fade.
After a couple of months, he already had a plan in his head on how to live on, for some reason the very idea that you can earn not only with your hands, but also really warmed your head, stimulated.
And here it was lucky: I managed to transfer to the position of Oracle DB escort inside the company, fortunately there was a coincidence of interests: the employer urgently needed people, and my friend even had some kind of labor record and experience that would be slightly different from âpowering a BS with a diesel generatorâ , for the subsequent device by the java developer.
This would be a decisive step, and partly risky, since there was no knowledge of SQL from the word "completely", but there was a desire to learn, work and earn money (and there was also a mortgage that leaves no options).
The period of the probationary period was particularly stressful, quoting my friend: âat that time every day I had a strong opinion that I was an idiot and I could never figure out what I was doing, I donât understand how I did anything. Coming home, I immediately went to bed, it was psychological exhaustion, but it was interesting. "
Working with SQL was a serious help in the development and formation of my friend, firstly, he started making money without the help of a screwdriver and pliers, and secondly, he quickly pumped his SQL skill, as he willingly took on complex ones (the authorities called them
But all this time he remembered very well and understood why he came along with him and hid it, but did not bury his dream (and at that moment it was already a dream, and not just a goal) to become a developer.
The udalenka and the first self-written web service became a serious help (my friend jokes that the source code of this service would probably easily become an occasion for his nightmares).
It played into the hands of the fact that the employer had an incredibly many tasks that could be automated, and my friend had a passionate desire to automate manual labor.
Spring came into play, and work on a rather functional web service in my free time, starting to write which, my friend did not understand at all what spring is (he simply repeated after the video tutorial), and finishing, after 2 months already knew something.
At that time, he quit drinking and smoking, went headlong to work, spent all his free time (not counting the fitness club) on books and coding, spurred on the result: services that saved hours of manual work and thanks from colleagues from other departments.
He says that at some point, the idea that he will become a developer ceased to seem absurd. A clear awareness appeared in my head: âyes, I donât know this yet, but it is BYE.â
A year later, he got a job as a java developer, at a decent salary in a decent bank, contrary to the skepticism of his former colleagues ("nerd, where you go, go ahead"), everything turned out.
Although it is unlikely that the word âturned outâ is appropriate here, the guy does not stop there, grows relative to himself and makes bold plans, for this life, a feeling of uncertainty, a feeling of boredom, and a total chondra that has become stable over the past years of operation have disappeared . I think he would have ended badly if he had not begun to change his life and did not believe in one simple truth: programmers are not born, but âimpossibleâ is just a word.
Do you have such a friend? Or maybe it's you?
I have it, or maybe it's me ...
My friend comes from a small village (~ 1-2k people), pictured is a view from the outskirts
He studied well at school, was an excellent student and would certainly have received a gold medal (although who needs them now), if it were not for the total generic hatred of the school leadership for his family and, as a result, for him (an excellent example for explaining the principle of PLO is âinheritanceâ) .
At the age of 14, he had a computer, and the first games, but by the way, it didnât mean anything, he didnât wake up craving for computer science, programming and development in this direction, I think this can be attributed to the lack of the Internet.
At 16 he was "enrolled" at the institute. It was they who did it because he himself absolutely did not care what would happen next after school: summer was in the yard, and he was 16, and he had his first love.
Fortunately, my friendâs mother guessed and placed him in a technical institute, it was the Yekaterinburg Institute of Communications (now GOU VPO URTISI SibGUTI), where he successfully studied for the next 5 years.
A distinguishing feature of that time was, almost 90 percent, the uselessness of the material received, which was not useful in practice, from the word "completely", but then an inquisitive reader would say that they say "received general development, studied, and not degraded," and I agree.
From something related to programming at that time, my friend could mention the first course and one semester of lectures on programming in Delphi, at the end of the course (which was bought for 200 rubles, in the yard was 2010), that's all.
After the institute and the army, my friend went to work in his specialty, feeling himself extremely useful, but for some reason completely useless for anyone. I looked for work for a very long time (echoes of the 2008 economic crisis may have affected) and eventually got a job in a company of a mobile operator of local importance, having received the position of Engineer and received a salary of 12,000 rubles (2011).
The work of an engineer, about which 5 years was told at the institute, was strikingly different from the work in favor of the local mobile operator: a friend was engaged in the operation of base stations, which, as everyone probably knows, are located in cities and villages, and highways, mainly in metal containers 2 * 3 meters , outside a tower with antennas, inside a precious (in the literal sense
Among other things, I had to mow the grass around the container (fire safety requirement), carry iron (probably you heard about the norms of the Customs Code, that a man is allowed to lift so many kg per day? It didnât work there), climb roofs, masts ( itâs especially joyful to do this in winter, in frost), regularly on duty and wake up at night from the calls of the duty officer, jump at 3 a.m. in the car and drive somewhere a hundred kilometers to straighten the twisted pair in the connector, and it is strictly necessary to wash yourself the floor leaving the container.
Unfortunately, the views at this work opened only to the city, but not to prospects:
This was all about romance, which at first really warmed my soul and turned a blind eye to inconvenience: traveling work, often on the road (you can sleep), you can often do the job faster than expected (and sleep), you can call during business hours on business (if the driver Today is normal), and he also knew all the most delicious and cheap canteens in Ekb and the region.
Summer bonuses are especially pleasant: I went to the object - I stopped by for a swim, but you can take meat in the store (or you can also have beer) and go to work with your lunch, since the grill was always in the driver's car. And most importantly, bosses never stand above their heads, with rare exceptions.
Speaking about those days, my friend notes that at that time there was a clear feeling that he was in his place and everything was fine, he had enough money (a strange mistake, although the young one may need less finances to feel happy than mature) , the work "not sedentary, you will not get bored", well, he was respected in the team. Can you imagine what kind of team there is? People are simple, and without respect in such a team
He got married and gradually life slipped into one global âgroundhog dayâ, which he later called the âcomfort zoneâ. Work -> home -> wife -> beer -> TV shows -> World Of Warcraft (so that the wife doesnât interfere with playing, he also hooked her on a varic, a
Once, after a couple of years, the boss called him and said (verbatim): âprepare your ambitions and wishes for the RFP for the position of senior engineerâ, this was the second âfeatâ at work (the first is the completion in 1 month term), he was very proud of him then, there were many colleagues who worked much longer, but they did not receive the position of senior engineer.
By the way, the ambition about the ZP could be unlimited, but within the limits indicated by the authorities, itâs quite an earthly framework.
The fact of career growth and the growth (insignificant) of the RFP only strengthened the feeling that "everything is going according to plan."
2015 was marked by a divorce from his wife, wild depression, drunkenness, for the first time in 27 years, my friend lit a cigarette, said that most likely, the reason for this was a banal self-pity (if at all for purity) and nothing more, a way to draw attention to how his broke, and broke strongly.
In the midst of this period, my friend's classmate, who at that time was working as a developer, began to tell how cool it was. As proof, he cited the numbers of his RFP (and he started with the same engineer in the same company), talked about java and showed some simple program, I think the burning eyes of the speaker were the determining factor here, and the ability to present information - my friend became interested ...
In memory of those times, he says that he began to read the first java-book by Y. Fayn âProgramming for Grandfathers and Grandmothersâ without much self-confidence, if he had been told that he would become a developer, he would never have believed, and laughed at face to the speaker. There was clearly articulated confidence ! , the postulate is that even the idea that you can become a programmer is absurd, seditious and partly insane, it is at about the same level as the idea of ââflying into space.
Next were the first standard things: a calculator, tic-tac-toe. And you know what? Nothing, He was not hooked at all. It was fun (and not the most fun), no more.
Fortunately, the illusions about my current work at that time have already passed, like the craving for youthful romance and adventure, the last straw was trauma and sick leave and the thought that itâs very easy to be left without money, working with your hands, itâs enough to damage these hands and you are useless.
Rather, from despair, and not from deep awareness, and even more so not from a craving for programming, the book O`Relly by Head First Java was bought, it was bought, but not downloaded from the Internet, for 1800r, and so for him a book for that kind of money was a rather expensive purchase, it was decided to finish it to the end, under any circumstances, in order to at least somehow justify its value.
And then it really came in, I remember how my friend was happy, like a child, when he realized what a Java constructor and the keyword this are. And gradually the idea that they say "not mine, it is difficult, etc." began to fade.
After a couple of months, he already had a plan in his head on how to live on, for some reason the very idea that you can earn not only with your hands, but also really warmed your head, stimulated.
And here it was lucky: I managed to transfer to the position of Oracle DB escort inside the company, fortunately there was a coincidence of interests: the employer urgently needed people, and my friend even had some kind of labor record and experience that would be slightly different from âpowering a BS with a diesel generatorâ , for the subsequent device by the java developer.
This would be a decisive step, and partly risky, since there was no knowledge of SQL from the word "completely", but there was a desire to learn, work and earn money (and there was also a mortgage that leaves no options).
The period of the probationary period was particularly stressful, quoting my friend: âat that time every day I had a strong opinion that I was an idiot and I could never figure out what I was doing, I donât understand how I did anything. Coming home, I immediately went to bed, it was psychological exhaustion, but it was interesting. "
Working with SQL was a serious help in the development and formation of my friend, firstly, he started making money without the help of a screwdriver and pliers, and secondly, he quickly pumped his SQL skill, as he willingly took on complex ones (the authorities called them
But all this time he remembered very well and understood why he came along with him and hid it, but did not bury his dream (and at that moment it was already a dream, and not just a goal) to become a developer.
The udalenka and the first self-written web service became a serious help (my friend jokes that the source code of this service would probably easily become an occasion for his nightmares).
It played into the hands of the fact that the employer had an incredibly many tasks that could be automated, and my friend had a passionate desire to automate manual labor.
Spring came into play, and work on a rather functional web service in my free time, starting to write which, my friend did not understand at all what spring is (he simply repeated after the video tutorial), and finishing, after 2 months already knew something.
At that time, he quit drinking and smoking, went headlong to work, spent all his free time (not counting the fitness club) on books and coding, spurred on the result: services that saved hours of manual work and thanks from colleagues from other departments.
He says that at some point, the idea that he will become a developer ceased to seem absurd. A clear awareness appeared in my head: âyes, I donât know this yet, but it is BYE.â
A year later, he got a job as a java developer, at a decent salary in a decent bank, contrary to the skepticism of his former colleagues ("nerd, where you go, go ahead"), everything turned out.
Although it is unlikely that the word âturned outâ is appropriate here, the guy does not stop there, grows relative to himself and makes bold plans, for this life, a feeling of uncertainty, a feeling of boredom, and a total chondra that has become stable over the past years of operation have disappeared . I think he would have ended badly if he had not begun to change his life and did not believe in one simple truth: programmers are not born, but âimpossibleâ is just a word.
Do you have such a friend? Or maybe it's you?
I have it, or maybe it's me ...
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