we learn by doing, but rarely in isolation.

People often think there's a standard path to becoming a developer. You know how it goes - get the CS degree, secure the internship, follow the prescribed career steps. But in the IT world, what matters is what you can build, not how you learned to build it. No user has ever left a website thinking, "I suspect this developer didn't attend a prestigious university." :]

The self-taught route has its advantages. When you're learning independently, you develop strong problem-solving skills by necessity. There's no one to consult when your code breaks at midnight, so you become resourceful. You get comfortable with documentation and troubleshooting. And the learning is continuous - new technologies emerge regularly, and we adapt because that's simply part of the process.

I should clarify that "self-taught" isn't entirely accurate, lol. While I didn't follow traditional education, most of my knowledge came from working alongside other developers and building actual projects. Real-world application with feedback taught me far more than tutorials ever could. Code reviews, collaborative problem-solving, and team discussions shaped my skills in meaningful ways. Perhaps "community-taught" is more fitting? We learn by doing, but rarely in isolation.

I'm grateful to my grandpa who introduced me to computers when I was young. Those moments listening to his explanations about computers and the internet planted the seed for what would become my career. So here I am - technically "self-taught" but truthfully community-taught - and that works just fine. :]