When I joined DEV, I had a very simple goal.
Learn in public. Maybe improve as a developer. Hopefully become employable enough to get a decent job. That was pretty much the entire plan.
10,000 followers was not part of it.
In fact, if you had told me back then that one day I'd be writing a post like this, I probably would've laughed and gone back to debugging whatever side project was currently breaking.
Yet here we are.
And honestly I'm still not entirely sure how it happened.
I didn't come here to build an audience
I came here because I had things I was trying to figure out.
- Cloud computing.
- Japanese.
- Career decisions.
- Freelancing.
- Interviews.
- Side projects.
- The strange reality of becoming an adult and realizing nobody actually knows what they're doing.
Writing helped me make sense of those things.
Whenever life felt noisy, writing helped me slow down enough to understand what I actually thought.
At some point I realized I wasn't writing because I had answers.
I was writing because I had questions.
And somehow, a lot of you seemed to have the same ones.
The weirdest part isn't the number
The weirdest part is that people cared. I'm naturally a pretty introverted person. I've never been the loudest person in the room.
So the idea that thousands of people voluntarily read my thoughts about cloud computing, Japanese, career confusion, side projects, marketing, and whatever other rabbit hole I happened to fall into that week still feels slightly absurd.
But what surprised me even more were the comments.
The stories.
The messages.
The conversations.
The moments where somebody would say:
"I thought I was the only one who felt that way."
Or:
"I needed to hear this today."
Those are the moments that stayed with me.
Much more than any number ever could.
I thought I was joining a platform
Looking back, I think I accidentally joined a community.
Through DEV, I've gotten the chance to meet people from all over the world.
Some became friends.
Some became collaborators.
Some became mentors without even realizing it.
I got to build a fun little avatar project with @webdeveloperhyper.
I got to learn from @javz's fascinating projects and architect-level thinking.
I got to exchange ideas with @francistrdev, whose support and enthusiasm somehow always seem to show up exactly when needed.
I got to think outside the box when reading @shalinibhavi525sudo's blogs, learn about architecture and security reading @alifunk's blogs, and of course the interesting reads by @konark_13. And all their continuous support on my blogs as well.
I got to be part of Devengers and meet people who genuinely enjoy helping each other grow.
And these are only a few among many... and the names just keep growing lol.
One person I especially want to mention is Richard.
Some of you may remember him from DEV.
He left because of personal reasons, but his kindness, encouragement, and willingness to support newer writers left a lasting impression on a lot of people, including me.
I learned a lot simply by watching how he interacted with others.
I hope life is treating him well wherever he is now.
Life happened
At one point, I disappeared for a while.
Work got busy.
Office life happened.
Japanese happened.
Marketing happened.
Mainframes happened.
A lot of things happened all at once.
And honestly, I wasn't sure whether anyone would even notice I was gone.
When I eventually came back, I expected things to continue as if nothing had happened.
Instead, I was welcomed back with more warmth than I ever expected.
One comment, by Francis, in particular stuck with me.
It basically said:
"You'll always have a home here."
And for someone who originally joined DEV just hoping to become a better developer, that meant more than I can properly explain.
What I'm actually grateful for
The funny thing is that I originally came here looking for opportunities.
And I found them.
Jobs came.
Interviews came.
Projects came.
Collaborations came.
All of that was wonderful.
But looking back, I don't think those are the things I'm most grateful for.
What I'm most grateful for is the people.
The conversations.
The encouragement.
The feeling that even on the internet, genuine communities can still exist.
Because let's be honest. The internet doesn't exactly have a great reputation for kindness these days.
Yet somehow, this little corner keeps proving otherwise.
And I'll be honest,I almost didn't write this.
10,000 followers on the internet can feel oddly small when you're constantly seeing people with 100k, 250k, or even millions.
But then I stopped and thought about it for a second.
Imagine 10,000 people in a room.
Imagine 10,000 people standing in a stadium section.
Imagine 10,000 people showing up to listen to your thoughts about software, careers, Japanese, side projects, and whatever else you happen to be obsessing over that week.
Suddenly the number feels very different.
And honestly, a little overwhelming.
So... thank you
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for commenting.
Thank you for disagreeing respectfully.
Thank you for sharing your stories.
Thank you for teaching me things.
Thank you for making an introvert feel heard.
I still write weird little blogs.
I still overthink titles.
I still put anime references where they probably don't belong.
And I still have absolutely no idea where this journey is ultimately going.
But somehow, 10,000 of you decided to stick around and find out with me.
That's something I'll never take for granted.
So here's to more side quests.
More learning.
More weird little blogs.
More funmaxxing.
More people I'll be lucky enough to meet along the way.
And if you've been here for one post or one hundred...
Thank you for being part of the journey!❤️
