Thread by @typecraft_dev

Giving a workshop at #RailsWorld was incredible.

But there is a story behind how I got here, and I want to share it with you all. Maybe it will help some of you. This is the story of typecraft (in a deeply personal thread that no one asked for...)

As a kid (Yes I am going back THAT far), I was IN LOVE with gaming, AND computers. I would spend countless hours playing games, and researching computer upgrades. It was my obsession. But, there are problems with obsession.

My obsession made me a very isolated and introverted kid. I never REALLY developed the skills to make friends, or find my own personality. I was so wrapped up in gaming and computers, I never worked on my social skills. Which brings me to college...

College was horrible for me. Hindsight is 20:20, but looking back, I suffered a LOT of mental health issues in school. I was lonely, isolated, couldn’t make friends, and… sad overall. I suffered from massive anxiety on a daily basis. College, for me, was a 4-year long existential crisis.

Graduating college only mildly improved my circumstances. I didn’t know what I wanted in life, I just “liked computers” so I jumped around from job to job.

But eventually I witnessed an amazing thing. I saw people creating a web app in real time!! It was amazing -- I didn’t know you could be so creative with programming. later I learned this was a technology called “Ruby on Rails”...

Eventually I found the famous “build a blog in 15 minutes” video from @dhh . It blew me away, and I spent the next few years teaching myself how to write web applications.

It was tough. Because although I loved computers my whole life, programming was new to me. But after years of hard work, I finally got my first job as a rails dev (shoutout to @robert_beene for hiring me btw).

Through programming, I found an amazing community. I found some amazing friends (like my biz partner @robert_beene who hired me many years ago). I found my career, and to some extent, my purpose. But I wanted to do more with myself…

I wanted to give something back to people. Much like Ryan Bates in my generation, I wanted to make videos for people to help with their programming journey. And after a few attempts, typecraft was born.

But then, the craziest thing happened...

Someone happened to see a video I made, and enjoyed it enough to share it with all of his followers. This person was @dhh himself! The man who inspired me to start programming. And he actually enjoyed something I MADE? this was insane

but it only got more insane...

DHH actually reached out, and invited us to come give a workshop at #RailsWorld in Toronto! The last weekend was a blur, I got to meet my idol, meet some amazing people, and say hi to everyone who knew me from youtube (which is still crazy to me, btw).

I went from an introverted, anxious, lonely kid to eventually speaking at Rails World. It was an amazing journey, an incredible moment, and something I wouldn't trade for anything.

I want you all to know something. If you're in a tough spot in your life, please keep going. If you keep your head up, and keep working, you’ll get to wherever you need to be. I promise.

Thanks, Nerds