My 2025 Journey: From First Interview to Real-World Impact

February 2025 marked a milestone I'll never forget. My first-ever interview experience and it's with PixelCompute. The excitement of potentially working on real projects was electric, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. But luck was on my side, and I was selected for the summer internship starting June 2025, right after my 2nd semester.

I already had a solid understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. The interview was based on these stacks after all. But between selection and joining, PixelCompute organized a bootcamp for us to revisit these technologies. At first, I wondered why we needed to go through them again when I already knew them.

We went through BigBinary Academy for the bootcamp, which is publicly available. But it wasn't until I completed React that I truly understood the why. So many new things I learned from the bootcamp as well. It wasn't just about knowing these technologies. It was about understanding them deeply, the right way. The bootcamp rebuilt my foundation, filling gaps I didn't even know existed. This preparation would prove invaluable during the internship.

I still vividly remember June 17th. A late evening, chilling with friends, when I received an email from Suman, our CEO, about onboarding tasks. Buried in that message was something that made my heart skip: WORK EMAIL. My first custom domain email. I couldn't express what I felt in that moment. It was something I'd only imagined before, typing my name followed by a company domain. Now, I was living it.

Walking into the corporate world on June 19th felt surreal. The excitement of working on real projects was overwhelming. The first couple of months were intense. The learning curve was steep, and the pace was relentless. But this wasn't learning for the sake of checking boxes. This was learning that mattered in the real world.

Looking back at projects I'd built before PixelCompute, I can't help but cringe. How did I write such messy code? Code written just to "complete the project," with no thought to quality or maintainability. The training at PixelCompute changed everything. I learned to write scalable code that teams could build on together.

One lesson from our mentors stuck with me: "Write code you'll be proud of." No unnecessary comments cluttering the codebase. Write code that speaks for itself. Comments should only exist when something is truly out of the box.

During training, I was introduced to Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Learning a new language and framework under time pressure was challenging, but the excitement of contributing to real-world projects kept me going. I'd heard about Rails before. Someone in a video once said, "Once you're into Rails, you can't get out. You just have to focus on business logic, and Rails will help you with everything else." After completing the training, I understood exactly what they meant.

The training wasn't just about improving technical skills. It was about collaboration, teamwork, and contributing to something bigger than myself. The people here are genuinely helpful. We all want to learn and grow together. Everyone is focused on improvement, and that makes all the difference.

Regular feedback helped me identify blind spots and grow. The work environment is energetic. You just have to keep the momentum going. And when you enjoy your work, it doesn't feel like pressure.

Work is important, but so is everything beyond it. Fun Fridays to connect with the team outside of project deadlines. Bi-weekly turf sessions brought out everyone's competitive spirit and reminded us that movement and play are just as vital as productivity. Then there are the quarterly team lunches, where conversations flow freely, laughter is abundant, and bonds strengthen.

These aren't just "perks." They're essential. They help us recharge, build genuine relationships with teammates, and maintain perspective. You can't pour from an empty cup, and these moments ensure we stay energized and connected, both to the work and to each other.

After training, it was time to contribute to real-world projects. That's when Neeto came into the picture. Neeto is a SaaS product offering affordable alternatives across multiple software categories. A complete package for businesses.

Now I was implementing everything I'd learned, collaborating with talented people to build actual products. The instruction was crystal clear: ownership, accountability. You own every feature you work on, every single line of code you write. You're accountable for its quality, its impact, and its maintenance.

That sense of ownership changes everything. It's not just a task to complete. It's your creation, your responsibility. It gives you the drive to dive deep into every issue, to polish every detail, to care about the outcome. When you own something, you build it differently.

2025 was a year of new experiences:

• My first interview

• My first work email

• Another work email from the client project. Something I'd only imagined before, just like seeing my name on a popular domain, but never genuinely believed would happen

• My first flight

• And all these turf sessions and team lunches were firsts too

And countless other firsts that shaped who I am today.

This year changed me. It changed how I write code, how I think about problems, how I collaborate with others, and how I view my own potential. I stepped into 2025 as someone with theoretical knowledge and left it as someone who's contributed to real products used by real people.

The nervous candidate in February became the confident contributor in December. The person who wrote messy code learned to craft solutions with pride. The one who only imagined work emails now receives them daily from teammates.

But beyond the skills and the milestones, 2025 taught me something more valuable: the power of environment. Being surrounded by people who want to grow, who give honest feedback, who celebrate your wins and support you through challenges. That's what speeds up growth. PixelCompute didn't just give me an internship. It gave me a launchpad.

There's still so much to learn, so many skills to master, so many problems to solve. And that's exactly what excites me.

As I step into 2026, I'm carrying more than just technical skills. I'm carrying momentum, confidence, and hunger. The "one-step-ahead" mindset isn't just about being better than yesterday. It's about continuously pushing boundaries, taking ownership of bigger challenges, and contributing more meaningfully.

The foundation has been laid. The habits have been formed. The excitement hasn't faded. If anything, it's grown stronger.

Here's to building products that matter, writing code I'll be proud of, and growing alongside incredible people. Here's to taking that next step, and the one after that, and the one after that.

2025 was the beginning. 2026 is where I build on everything I've learned and become the developer I've always wanted to be.