fix

content/post/ten-years-in-tech.md

@@ -12,39 +12,40 @@ tags:
 2025 marks my tenth year in tech. 15 year old me would not have imagined that 25 year old me would be having so much fun
 with a random hobby he picked up but here I am, pursuing tech as a career!
 
-To mark ten years in tech, I thought it would be fun to document my journey into tech.
+To mark ten years in tech, I thought it would be fun to document my journey in tech so far. I also wanted to point out the amount of "failures" I received throughout my ten year journey, to serve as a reminder that everyone starts somewhere and getting started it always the hardest step.
 
 ## Secondary School: 2014 - 2016
 
 - Got a [Samsung Galaxy Ace 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Ace_2)
-- Started getting into Android ROMs, installing things like [Cyanogenmod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod) and
+- Got into Android ROMs, installing ROMs like [Cyanogenmod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod) and
     [MIUI](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/18ni90y/its_the_sad_end_of_custom_roms_on_xiaomi_devices/)
-- Started lurking in the [XDA forums](https://xdaforums.com/)
-- Decided to start learning Android development from a YouTube series (I couldn't find the series anymore 😔)
-- Did not really understand Android development so decided to give up
-- Printed out [tutorials on Java](https://www.javatpoint.com/java-tutorial) and trying to learn Java (but not to much
-    success)
-- Still felt really intrigued by programming so started visiting the
-    [public library](https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/visit-us/our-libraries-and-locations/libraries/yishun-public-library)
+- Started lurking in [XDA forums](https://xdaforums.com/)
+- Decided to (try) learn Android development from a YouTube series by [xda-developers](https://www.youtube.com/@xda/videos) (I couldn't find the series anymore 😔)
+- Did not really understand Android development and gave up (Failure #1)
+- Printed out [tutorials on Java](https://www.javatpoint.com/java-tutorial) and trying to learn Java (yes, I printed them out and bound it)
+- Did not enjoy learning Java too much and gave up again (Failure #2)
+- Wanted to find the "perfect language" to start programming
+- Visited the
+    [public library](https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/visit-us/our-libraries-and-locations/libraries/yishun-public-library) many times
     to borrow books on programming like [C#](https://www.dummies.com/book/technology/programming-web-design/csharp/c-2010-all-in-one-for-dummies-292899/) and [web development](https://www.amazon.sg/HTML-CSS-Design-Build-Websites/dp/1118008189)
-- Tried setting up the family computer ([Toshiba Satellite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook_Satellite)) to dual boot [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) and Windows, accidentally wiped the
-    Windows partition instead 🤡
+- Tried setting up the family computer ([Toshiba Satellite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook_Satellite)) to dual boot [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) and Windows
+- Accidentally wiped the Windows partition instead 🤡 (Failure #3)
 - Discovered [a video about why programming is important](https://youtu.be/Dv7gLpW91DM?si=8Vdb2-jIO8e-PuRc)
 
 <div style="display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;">
 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dv7gLpW91DM?si=XxNhtLYaQUAFNiGE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 </div>
 
-- Ignited a deeper interest in me to learn more about it and treat it as a fun hobby and community
-- Dad brought me to [Bras Basah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras_Basah) to browse second-hand bookstores and I got
-    books about [C++](https://www.amazon.sg/Absolute-C-Walter-Savitch/dp/0133970787) and [iOS development](https://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programmers-App-Driven-Approach-Developer/dp/0133965260)
+- Ignited a deeper interest in me to learn more about it and treat it as a fun hobby and find a wider community to enjoy it with
+- Dad brought me to [Bras Basah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras_Basah) to browse second-hand bookstores
+- Got books about [C++](https://www.amazon.sg/Absolute-C-Walter-Savitch/dp/0133970787) and [iOS development](https://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programmers-App-Driven-Approach-Developer/dp/0133965260)
 - Installed [Visual Studio](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/) to learn C++
-- Did not have an Apple machine to learn iOS development (yes, the book became useless)
+- Did not have an Apple machine to learn iOS development (yes, the book became useless) (Failure #4)
 - Started picking up C++ and understanding the fundamentals of programming
-- But really struggled with understanding pointers (who doesn't on their first attempt)
+- But really struggled with understanding pointers (who doesn't on their first attempt) (Failure #5)
 - Took the [O-Levels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore-Cambridge_GCE_Ordinary_Level) and did really well (L1R4 of 4 and L1R5 of 6)
 - Faced with making a tricky decision of choosing [Junior College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_college_(Singapore)) or [Polytechnic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_technology)
-- Unsure if I should study chemical engineering or information technology (yes, I did pick a JC as the very last choice)
+- Unsure if I should study chemical engineering or information technology
 
 ![](post/ten-years-in-tech/school_choices.png)
 
@@ -61,21 +62,29 @@ To mark ten years in tech, I thought it would be fun to document my journey into
 </div>
 
 - Built my very first [proper project](https://github.com/woojiahao/chat-bot) for school (a chat bot!)
-- Joined [The Programmers Hangout](https://theprogrammershangout.com/) and met a community of people who were equally in love with tech and interested
-- Became a moderator on the server and continued meeting friends
-- Started side projects to explore [different technologies like Kotlin](https://github.com/woojiahao/taiga)
-- Was introduced to [MightyAim](https://e27.co/startups/mightyaim/) by a friend and working for a while as the only Android developer, building a platform SDK to transform existing applications to adopt a gesture-based workflow
-- Received my first ever paycheck (of SGD 300!)
-- Went back to Bras Basah to buy books on algorithms and operating systems with my newfound wealth
-- Attended [PHP Conference Asia 2018](https://2018.phpconf.asia/) even though I don't know PHP
-- Was invited to teach a workshop for students over the semester break, so put together ["Introduction to Android Development with Kotlin"](https://woojiahao.com/KotlinToDo/#/)
-- Discovered my love for teaching and writing
-- Started my blog
+- Joined [The Programmers Hangout](https://theprogrammershangout.com/)
+- Met an amazing community of people who were equally passionate about tech
+- Became a moderator on the server and continued making friends from around the world
+- Started side projects to explore different technologies like Kotlin like a [Discord moderation bot](https://github.com/woojiahao/taiga), [Spotify API wrapper](https://github.com/woojiahao/java-spotify-wrapper), and [extensible Markdown to PDF conversion library](https://github.com/omnius-project/kMD2PDF)
+- Introduced to [MightyAim](https://e27.co/startups/mightyaim/) by a friend
+- Working at MightyAim for a while as an Android developer, building an SDK to allow existing applications to adopt a gesture-based workflow
+- Received my first paycheck (of SGD 300!)
+- Went back to Bras Basah to buy books on algorithms and operating systems with my newfound wealth 🤑
+- Attended [PHP Conference Asia 2018](https://2018.phpconf.asia/) even though I didn't know PHP (and still don't)
+- Invited to teach a workshop for students over the semester break
+- Put together ["Introduction to Android Development with Kotlin"](https://woojiahao.com/KotlinToDo/#/) and taught over 15 students live!
+- Discovered my love for teaching and writing through this experience
+- Started my [blog](https://github.com/woojiahao/woojiahao.github.io/tree/master)
 - Got placed to [DBS Bank](https://www.dbs.com.sg/private-banking/default.page) for my polytechnic internship under the SOI Re-platform team
-- Started working with [XCLR8](https://www.linkedin.com/company/rebeehealth/posts/?feedView=all) for my Final Year Project, migrating the backend from Java to Kotlin Spring Boot and their database from MongoDB to PostgreSQL
-- Became valedictorian of my cohort! Graduating with a 4.0 out of 4.0 GPA but felt like I wanted to find my tribe both online and in person
+- Worked across teams to get 90% UAT completion (across over 90 teams) and did a bunch of root cause analysis
+- Attached to [XCLR8](https://www.linkedin.com/company/rebeehealth/posts/?feedView=all) for my Final Year Project
+- Migrated the backend from Java to Kotlin Spring Boot and the database from MongoDB to PostgreSQL
+- Became valedictorian of my cohort! Graduating with a 4.0 out of 4.0 GPA
+- Still felt like I wanted to find my tribe in person
+- Was rejected from the [PSC Scholarship](https://www.psc.gov.sg/scholarships) (Failure #6)
 - Got accepted into [NUS Computer Science](https://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/programmes/ug/cs/)
-- Started a research internship with [DSO National Laboratories](https://www.dso.org.sg/), working on unsupervised stance detection
+- Started a research internship with [DSO National Laboratories](https://www.dso.org.sg/)
+- Integrated social media information for unsupervised stance detection and was exposed to NLP research!
 - Enlisted in the [Singapore military](https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/EA1970)
 
 ## National Service: 2020 - 2022
@@ -85,22 +94,29 @@ To mark ten years in tech, I thought it would be fun to document my journey into
 - Started writing about [Elixir on my blog](https://blog.woojiahao.com/post/odd-hound/)
 - Invited to write for company blogs
 - Got articles featured on Elixir newsletters
-- Studied [Calculus](https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/thomas-calculus/P200000007103/9780137616077) in my free time to prepare for university
+- Studied [calculus](https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/thomas-calculus/P200000007103/9780137616077) in my free time to prepare for university
+- Applied to US universities like MIT and Stanford for Computer Science
+- Got rejected by every US university (Failure #7)
+- Built [`chris`](https://github.com/woojiahao/chris), a [Pratt parser](https://matklad.github.io/2020/04/13/simple-but-powerful-pratt-parsing.html) written in Go
+- `chris` was featured on the [Golang Weekly newsletter](https://golangweekly.com/)
 
 ## University: 2022 - Now
 
 - Enrolled in the National University of Singapore's School of Computing, studying Computer Science
-- Joined [Residential College 4](https://rc4.nus.edu.sg/) and met many close friends there
+- Joined [Residential College 4](https://rc4.nus.edu.sg/)
+- Met many close friends in RC4
 - Joined [NUS Google Developer Student Club](https://dscnustech.github.io/) as a backend software engineer on Project Sight Word
-- Met amazing friends from GDSC
-- Realized I was not cut out as an academic weapon after struggling in my first semester
-- Realized that getting a job in tech was a lot harder after flunking a bunch of technical interviews
+- Met more amazing friends from GDSC
+- Realized I was not cut out to be an academic weapon after struggling in my first semester (Failure #8)
+- Realized that getting a job in tech was very hard after flunking a bunch of technical interviews (Failure #9)
 - Discovered the existence of Leetcode
 - Joined [NUS Hackers](https://nushackers.org) and finally discovered my tribe IRL
-- Articles were noticed by [Ethan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherbondy/) and was offered to do an internship at [Betafi](https://www.betafi.co/) using Elixir + Phoenix!
+- Articles were noticed by [Ethan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherbondy/)
+- Ethan offered for me to do an internship at [Betafi](https://www.betafi.co/) using Elixir + Phoenix!
+- Joined Betafi as a software engineer intern and worked on improving the video processing pipeline and adding project templates
 - Started the [Technical Interview Study Guide](https://interviews.woojiahao.com) to compile my notes from interview preparations
-- Taught a Git and introduction to databases workshop for [Orbital](https://nusmods.com/courses/CP2106/independent-software-development-project-orbital)
-- Got top student for [CS2103/T (Software Engineering)](https://nusmods.com/courses/CS2103/software-engineering)
+- Taught a workshop on Git and another on databases for [Orbital](https://nusmods.com/courses/CP2106/independent-software-development-project-orbital)
+- Became the top student for [CS2103/T (Software Engineering)](https://nusmods.com/courses/CS2103/software-engineering)
 - Returned to CS2103/T as a teaching assistant (and got 4.8/5.0 for teaching feedback!)
 - Taught a [web development with Elixir workshop for Hackerschool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VHBMXxCee0)
 
@@ -110,9 +126,18 @@ To mark ten years in tech, I thought it would be fun to document my journey into
 
 - Taught another workshop on Git for Hackerschool
 - Got internship offers from Google, Citadel, Palantir, and PayPal!
-- Taught another iteration of Git for Orbital
-- Joined Citadel as a Site Reliability Engineer intern over the summer on the Central SRE team
-- Flew off to London immediately after to join Palantir as a Software Engineer intern on the Developer Console team
+- Organized Hack&Roll 2024, supporting the web app used by over 800 live participants and 40 organizers
+- Realized on-call isn't fun and that the web app had to be rewritten to be more intuitive (Failure #10)
+- Taught yet another workshop on Git for Orbital (again)
+- Joined Citadel as a site reliability engineer intern over the summer on the Central SRE team
+- Met an amazing team and mentor, Nelson
+- Worked on preparing the Commodities Observability Platform for a disaster recovery exercise and implementing an automated incident post-mortem tool
+- Flew off to London immediately after to join Palantir as a software engineer intern on the Developer Console team
+- Met awesome people both within the Dev Console team (shoutout to Zeyad, Amish, Nadira, Xinyi, and Tim!) and outside of the team, creating amazing memories in London
+- Integrated Platform API support into Ontology SDK clients and made many memes
+- Working intensely towards getting the rewritten web app out (and I did!)
 - Returning to school!
 
-Wow! That took a while to recap! It has been such a wonderful journey and I am so happy that 15 year old me decided to get into tech. I got to meet so many amazing people and work on so many interesting problems. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for me! 🎉
+Wow! That took a while to recap! It has been such a wonderful journey and I am so happy that 15 year old me decided to get into tech. I got to meet so many amazing people and work on so many interesting problems.
+
+Although I have had many successes as well, I have faced many failures as well (10 in total!) and these failures have taught me so much. The past ten years has been so fun and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for me! 🎉