Introduction to My Tech Journey
My Background:
I came from NTU EEE, and trust me, I don’t fit in. I joined this course because I happened to meet a senior who introduced me to a maker’s lab called Garage@EEE. People were building their own electronic devices from scratch and programming cool things like an escape room time bomb!
When school started, it was a completely different story. The curriculum was dry and difficult, and I struggled to find meaning in school. I don’t think people around me quite understand how important purpose was to me, except for ONE professor(Prof Andy Khong) I had in school.
He told me to:
-fuck my GPA if I want to, and focus on what I wanted to do-
and the rest was history.
Finding my Interest/Purpose:
It took me 5 tries in WebDev, Sales, BizDev, Innovation Labs and other startups to find something I truly enjoyed - Internet of Things(IoT).
I took a semester off as early as year 2, and did internships during my subsequent semesters. These internships were my anchor to the real world, which I desperately needed to get through school. Ngl, It wasn’t easy to find since I have close to zero experience for everything I wanted to try out.
Key Lesson: Don’t neglect the power of LinkedIn! You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the support and opportunities you’ll get.
What sparked my interest in technology?
Honestly, I just knew I was interested in building and customising my devices from the moment I saw my seniors developing them. Ofcourse, I validated it by getting my hands on when my senior packed a mini lunch-box of electronics components and an Arduino Uno for me to explore.
Instantly fell in love with IoT.
Advice: You’ll feel a certain draw towards certain topics as you see/experience them. Get your hands-on and try it out! It might just be an “Oh, okay cool.”, but it also might be an “OMG! THIS IS SO COOL!”
How did you get into tech?
1) Internships
My 6th internship in Year 3 was my first taste of working in an IoT-related role. I was prototyping an automatic fish feeder for a startup and sending data to AWS IoT Core.
Although I didn’t complete it, this experience opened up another world of Cloud Computing that I didn’t knew existed! There was so much I wanted to learn from both the hardware and software side of IoT. It was overwhelming, but at the same time, super exciting!
This resulted in me doing another 4 internships in IoT before I graduated. (Won’t dive into the specifics, but happy to share if we ever connect 🙂)
2) Hands-on Projects
Smart Agritech Module - To grow strawberries indoors
Funded by Garage@EEE
Had fun playing around with various ESP32 devices and building random things
Following guides to build with AWS such as this
Final Year Project (FYP) - IoT Weather Station
I wasn’t initially assigned to it, but I seeked out the Prof in charge of it, sent him my resume, proved to him that my experiences were relevant and convinced him to give it to me.
Advice: Don’t accept things as is. If you want it, try your hardest to get it. You might just be ONE ask away from it!
Key experiences that shaped my journey:
Aside from the projects mentioned above, the people I met during my journey played a huge role in my growth! Most, if not all, were through LinkedIn.
They helped me gain confidence by guiding me technically, as well as developing professional skills.
There were multiple instances where I’ve been set up for failure, and it was virtually impossible to achieve what was expected in such a short period of time. Those were some demoralising experiences 😭. I was at a place where I kept asking myself “What could I have done better?” or “What did I do wrong?”, which was rather unhealthy. But thanks to my loving mentors, I now know how to be kinder to myself and create a conducive and sustainable learning environment.
Key Lesson: If I believe that I have done my best, that is good enough. Someone once told me that in order to be successful in a job, you must “be at the right place, at the right time with the right people”.
There will be people that will drag you down and make you feel lesser than you actually are, but there will always be people that will try to lift you up and root for you.
Where I am right now?
Honestly, I don’t know! But that’s the fun of it isn’t it? 🙂
A moment I was sure that IoT was the love of my work-life.
The next it doesn’t exist anymore because it’s not a very common job in Singapore.
A moment I was into Cloud Computing.
The next I’m wondering if it’s the most prudent choice for my career.
Now, I’m venturing into Linux and Containers, and I can’t wait for this new adventure to start!
What I hope you get out of this:
Have the courage to pursue what you love!
Don’t be afraid to pop a message to someone and ask to know about their experience/ask for advice.
Things don’t happen the way you want them to, but another door will open for another exciting adventure!
Try your best and it’ll be good enough. Don’t leave space for the question “What if…”.
Wanna Share Your Story/Reach Out?
This is my Linkedin. Connect and pop me a message!
