Where It All Started: Finding My Way Without a Plan

Hi, I’m Tomi - welcome to my blog.

I don’t really see myself as a writer. At least, not yet. Long reads, structured thoughts, consistent publishing - all of that still feels a bit foreign to me. But I’ve learned that most things only start making sense once you try them. So here I am.

Let me tell you a bit about how I got here.

I’m a backend developer now. I build APIs, web applications and backend systems that work and give a profit. I also deploy them, debug them, break them, and fix them again.

But none of this was part of some clear plan.

2016.

I was still a kid trying to figure things out.

I knew I liked math. I liked technical drawing. I spent a lot of time overthinking everything and reading lots of books.

At some point, I signed up for a Python course - mostly out of curiosity. I built a small Tkinter app that recommended songs and artists. In reality, it was just a parser wrapped in a simple interface.

But back then, it felt like I had built something real. That feeling stuck - it felt like magic.

2017.

I moved to China to study Computer Science.

That period was intense. I barely slept before exams, didn’t skip classes, and tried to keep up with everything. That’s also when I discovered coffee - and, honestly, survived on it.

It wasn’t glamorous. It was just… consistent effort.

2020.

Then the world stopped. Pandemic, lockdown, everything online.

I decided to find a part-time job and somehow ended up teaching.

I taught everything - JavaScript, Python, C++, .NET. Sometimes because I wanted to, sometimes because I had to fill in for someone else.

Looking back, I still don’t fully understand how I managed to learn a new language in a couple of days and then explain it to others. But I did.

At some point, though, I got tired.
Not of programming - of the constant switching, the lack of structure, covering for people who didn’t show up. It drained me.

So I opened a job board.

There were a lot of PHP jobs. I didn’t know PHP. That didn’t stop me.

I applied for an internship at a startup and got a test assignment with a deadline. For the next few nights, I basically lived inside PHP and Laravel documentation.

What I built wasn’t perfect. It was messy in places. But it worked.

And somehow, that was enough.

That’s how I got my first real experience working with a team, real code, real deadlines - and real responsibility.

After that, things started moving.

I worked mostly with companies in Kazakhstan. At some point, I joined a South American EdTech company - probably my favorite experience so far.

It felt like things were finally clicking.

I still don’t have a perfectly structured career story.
And I’m not sure I ever will.

But I do know this: every step - even the chaotic, unplanned ones - led me somewhere useful.

So this blog is probably going to be the same.
A bit unstructured. Sometimes technical, sometimes not.

But honest.

Let’s see where this goes.