How does one grow through and with their decisions | The ethereal journey

Let’s start from the very beginning

I’m Bogdan Dobai, now in the shoes of a full-time developer, but still, someone who started as a rather clueless prospect intern at a job fair back in 2019. You might be very familiar with the fact that without an internship, you, as a university student are not in the best-case scenario. Thus, there I was, in my second year of college, trying to find a program that best suited who I was and what I knew I wanted at the time.

The knowledge I had at the moment regarding programming was not the strongest one can have, as I genuinely knew only what they taught us during uni. What I knew was I’d much rather prefer backend over frontend, but that too was based on the fact that I am not the most aesthetic-oriented person. Just wasn’t my cup of tea. Now, looking back, it was a young way to make a decision, yet one that turned out pretty nicely, I’d say.

Why Linnify? Why mobile?

I suppose it was a natural match in terms of values. Linnify was all about authenticity back then just as much as they are now and I think it’s been quite a click. So they accepted my application.

Regarding my backend choice, as you might have already caught the idea given my current position, it shifted towards mobile. How?

During the first two weeks of learning, the mobile courses on React Native held by Sebastian Godja genuinely made me wonder enough to change my mind. At the time, after the two weeks, the program allowed us to choose the technology we’d like to pursue most, so mobile was it for me. The team was fun, the frameworks came more naturally to me than I expected and well, here I am today, almost three years later still everyday ‘mobiling’. Leaving space for changing your mind brings different nuances to yourself, one might say.

What was it really like during the internship?

The internship felt genuinely real in terms of implication in the project. We had demos and super intense sessions where you could simply see that the people were wholeheartedly dedicated to growing. It was an internal app for the internship programs that has been in use for a while even after our internship so that was pretty cool at the time if you ask me.

Out of the eight of us who were in the internship program that year, six of us are still here, some of who became more important to me than ever expected. :D

The nice thing about looking back on the intern experience is that I could possibly know what’s to come. And it would’ve probably not been as nice if I did, really. I had the chance to be a mentor during the internship two years ago. It’s funny how things pivot.

Yet one thing stays the same: the support to explore new skills and grow professionally and personally as well.

That was something that struck me from the very beginning and still has the power to make me feel comfortable to grow here, to speak my mind, to be authentically me, I guess.

Any advice for future generations?

Don’t stress it. Just enjoy the ride. You grow through your decisions and they will mature once you do as well.

Interested in embarking on the ethereal journey?

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Create an account and apply here, before April 29th, 2022.