Learning has never stopped and I plan to keep it that way

I have always been fascinated by technology, art, design, and music ever since my childhood days. The backside of my school notebooks used to be filled with drawings, mostly band logo arts and sketches, but I was bad at it all. Back then, our teacher asked us what we wanted to become when we grew up? I had blindly answered, “A Computer Engineer” when most of my friends wanted to become a doctor.

After school, I became a management student and because of my interest in music, I started a small music store with the help of my uncle. It covered my pocket money and education fees.

During my stay there, I met my Uncle’s friend Sunil. Back then, he used to work at a top outsourcing company as a Web Designer. Seeing my passion for technology and design, he shared with me what he did and what it was all like. Listening to him, deep down inside I decided what I wanted to do professionally. They both also encouraged me to learn Web Design. I started checking out Photoshop and Html from tutorial DVDs as fast Internet was much of a luxury back then. Whenever Sunil Dai came by, he used to bring me a copy of his work project he had been working on. I used to study his PSD, Html, and CSS files, trying to replicate them. I used to ask him a lot of questions and he would always be happy to answer them all.

I wanted to study BIM after high school but unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned. I joined BBS and took a 5-month web design course to help out with my passion. The course didn’t help me much but I kept learning via the resources I had back then. In the mid of my first year in college, I started applying for work and was successful to impress the Interviewer in an IT company based in Ekantakuna.

I still remember, he said during my interview:

It doesn’t matter how much you know right now. But at such an early age, I can see that you have the passion to learn and grow. I respect that.

I got hired and was due to start in 2 days. It was the happiest day of my life but not for long. My bad luck, I got sick on my first day and since they needed a designer urgently, they hired someone else. I was so disappointed that I screwed up my first working opportunity without even getting the chance to start. But I didn’t stop there and kept applying.

After many applications and interviews during my second year in college, I landed a job in an IT company in Koteshwor, Balkumari as a Web designer. My professional career took off from there. Our Nepal Team Supervisor/Senior Programmer Basu  was always encouraging and motivating. My Senior Designer Lee  and Senior Programmer Denesh  were also very supportive and encouraging. I gradually got better at what I did. I continued doing design research, even started studying e-books & blog articles to improve my work. After working there for almost 4.5 years, I realized I needed a change and decided to move on. I joined a company based in New baneshwor but decided not to continue after 3 months.

I joined a startup company in Sankhamul as a Graphic & Web Designer with hopes to learn and grow.

Throughout all my time till now, I am grateful to have had these wonderful people in my life, who encouraged and constantly motivated me to follow my dream. I never became a Computer engineer as I said back then, but I became a Designer instead, a proud one. Getting paid for a job that I’ve always wanted to do, is one of my greatest achievements ever.

A quote from my favorite movie, where the actor tells his son :

Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.
— The Pursuit of Happyness

A scene from the movie --- The pursuit of happyness

I obviously have learned a lot from all this experience but that’s not enough. I still have a long way to go.

You always need to have that thirst in you that will make you want to learn more. I agree it is hard to keep up but what really matters is your passion.

The first thing people assume after I tell them what I do for a living is that I studied IT academically. I don’t mean to offend all the IT students, but if you have that desire to learn something new, you will always find a way, despite your academic background.

Believe in yourself and keep up the good work.

P.S.** I may have missed some names but you guys know who you are and I thank you all for always being there.