On 16th January 2026, I completed three years in the software development. I started my journey as a Frontend Developer Intern on 16th January 2023, and today I am working as a Software Engineer II.
It all began back in 2017, when I opted for PCM with Computer Science in Class XI because there were no vacant seats in PCMB. After a week, our class teacher who also taught Computer Science announced that students could still change sections if anyone wanted to take Biology instead of Computer Science.
During lunch break, I went to the computer lab (the best classroom in the school, and the only one with air conditioners) and told my teacher that I wanted to switch to Biology. Why I wanted Biology is a different story, which I’ll cover another time.
She looked at me and said,
“Dar lag gaya kya CS se?” (Did Computer Science scare you?)
I didn’t reply. I just left the room.
After lunch, she came to our classroom to take attendance. Once she was done, she asked me in front of everyone,
“Siddharth, do you want to take Biology instead of Computer Science?”
I replied, “No.”
She asked, “Why?”
At that moment, one of the backbenchers shouted,
“Maine samjha diya hai ise!”
He used to sit behind me during exams, and if I changed sections, he wouldn’t be able to copy my answers.
I smiled and said, “Haan, isne samjha diya hai.”
Now comes the real challenge.
I had to study Computer Science without having a computer at home. I read each and every line of the Sumita Arora Computer Science book and executed every line of code in my mind. This habit made me strong in output-based questions and helped me write accurate code on paper.
One day, after checking my answer sheet, my Computer Science teacher mentioned during the assembly that my answers were really good. While writing code on the blackboard, she pointed at me and said,
“Siddharth, we initialize a character using ‘char’.”
In my answers, I had written “ch” instead of “char” everywhere. I think she understood that I wasn’t actually running code on a computer. I was running it in my head.
She was one of the best teachers of my life. Without reading anything about linear search in arrays or matrices, I independently wrote its code in Class 11.
I derived the logic on my own by understanding how data is stored and accessed, which strengthened my problem-solving and algorithmic thinking at an early stage.
Because of her teaching, I became good in functions, arrays, and strings. I scored 95/100 in my board exams.
And today, here I completed three years into my coding journey – building new features, fixing bugs, working on complex financial reports for US schools, implementing logic more complex than I ever imagined, and constantly optimizing solutions.
From running code in my head to running systems in production, this journey has been unreal.