Tech Journey: How I spent my First Year ? 🤔
Introduction
Hello everyone, I'm Ritochit Ghosh, currently in the second year of my four-year BTech CS journey. In this blog, I'll reflect on how I spent my first year in college. This reflection will not only serve as a way for me to look back years from now, but it will also provide valuable insights for those looking to make the most of their first year.
Why should you listen to me? I believe I've utilized my first year well, managing to acquire valuable skills while maintaining a solid SGPA of over 9.5. So, let's dive into my journey!
For simplicity and better understanding, I've divided this journey into four quarters.
The Fresh Start
My BTech journey began unexpectedly. I was initially a dedicated NEET aspirant, aiming to secure a spot in a prestigious government medical college. However, due to an off day during the NEET exam, things didn't go as planned, and I found myself enrolled in this course through WBJEE.
With little knowledge of the tech world, I started learning C language based on recommendations from relatives and online resources. This was followed by a basic introduction to data structures and algorithms in C. I wouldn't say I mastered DSA at this point, but I gained a general understanding of how real-life problems can be solved more effectively.
During this phase, I was fortunate to receive guidance and support from @Swapnoneel Saha and @Arindam Majumder, who conducted regular online sessions to make our learning journey smoother.
The Process
After getting accustomed to the college academics and understanding that it is very different from regular school-level studies, I started focusing on skill development, except when internals were near 🙂 (referred to as CAs in our university).
Within a few months, I gained a solid understanding of HTML, CSS, Tailwind CSS, and JS, and made a few front-end contributions to an open-source project maintained by our mentors. I was also actively practicing DSA with Java on LeetCode, where I had solved 100+ problems by this time.
The Slow Burn
It is the most crucial phase of my one-year long journey. This is the phase where many of us tend to lose off track. As the initial motivation fades away by this time, the only driving force to keep us actively working on ourselves is our inner desire and dedication.
During this period, progress was a bit slow, I learned ReactJS, got introduced to backend using nodeJS, did some collaborative projects, built two npm packages and practised leetcode regularly. Although progress was slow, I remained consistent, making small improvements every day.
The Pay-off
At that time, I didn't have a personal portfolio website, so with the knowledge I had, I decided to build one. I had solved 300+ LeetCode problems, written a few blogs, and built several presentable projects.
Out of nowhere, at that very time, my friend @Sagar Singh presented me with a freelance opportunity where I had to prepare a Next.js project outline, implementing RBAC policy using Permit.io.
Conclusion
That's how my year as a fresher in the tech world ended. It was a joyous experience with a lot of technical exposure, thanks to the constant guidance of @Swapnoneel Saha, @Arindam Majumder, @Debajyati Dey, and @Arnab Pal.
Lastly, I took a well-deserved two-week break and enjoyed a wonderful trip to Rajasthan, recharging myself for the exciting challenges ahead. With renewed energy and motivation, I'm looking forward to what the next year holds, ready to explore every opportunity and help others along the way.
With this, this blog comes to an end. Thank you for dedicating your precious time to reading this post. I hope this seems valuable or adds some new insight to the readers. Stay safe until next time. Again, Thank you. 😊