My Tech Genesys

I might not be able to put a date on it but I think my love for tech can only be traced back to mobile games. I remember back then I could stay up late to finish a level on ‘space impact’ on mom’s Nokia 1100. Some years later, phones could now access the internet and we were blessed with websites like sefan.ru ,waptrick.com,wapking.mobi and some others, 10Mb data subscription could last for days, and these were the good old days when games were still in kilobytes. If you were seen around with a game of 1Mb you are a consider a legend. I remember some months after I got my first java phone — Nokia 2626, I had to list the number of games I had played in the space of 3–6 months and they were over 200 games at the time, ranging from ‘splinter cell’ to ‘die hard’ to ‘real football’. Man I can go on and on.

‘2go’ and ‘Facebook’ changed everything. For a very time I was hooked on these apps/sites till something happened in secondary school and one random guy told one of those ‘I hear say…’ stories. According to this particular story, the main character — a man was so rich that if he had N50,000 on him and probably he was stepping out from his car and the money fell, by the time it would take him to stoop and pickup that money, about N500,000 has entered his account (in my mind — “which kind lie be this”). The man in the story according to the guy was Bill Gates. I had to google him and some other rich men that appeared alongside his name only to discover that a lot of people were actually getting rich from tech regardless of there age and all, while still having fun at what they do.

Man, I was determined to get my own share of this cake but as Mike Tyson would say:

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

I couldn’t get access to a laptop (not like I even knew what to do with it then), but I attempted creating a few web pages on wapka (I don’t even know if some of these sites still exists now though).

Thankfully androids came around, I got the sololearn app and started learning HTML, CSS (I couldn’t bother JavaScript and other languages then). I wrote a few ‘hello world!’(s) here and there. All these time, I was yet to encounter anybody with similar interest in tech. I Got into the University, got my first laptop (finally!!! this time I knew some things I could do with it), time to stop saying hellos to the world and actually make real stuff — android apps/games (hehehe). Reality’s major punch — Thanks to school WiFi, I got tons tutorials to watch, installed the software — visual studio, android studio and boy, I was set to destroy Mark Zuckerberg’s world until my 2 GB RAM laptop slapped hard. These software I banked on were not loading right. I gave up completely on programming and gracefully, I took up interest in photography, got really good at it (You can check out my pictures here). It was bye-bye to programming and the heartbreak was unforgettable.

Towards my final year, I finally met someone who had interest in tech, although we were talking about photography at the time and tech popped out of no where. I had been in Enugu for over 3 years and this was the first time of hearing about Genesys Tech Hub. Bro, told a good story and I was hooked on again. By this time, A lot had changed in the tech world since my last ‘hello world!’. Now I was super excited to know I could learn from professionals, join or create a team to collaborate with, while still having fun and possibly getting paid in the process, if I could get a slot in the #Learnable program at the Genesys Tech Hub. This is supposed to be a 6 months internship program for tech enthusiasts. From that time, I picked up interest in coding again while researching on how to get into this Genesys Tech Hub, the more I searched the more I fell in love with the whole idea of being a part of the Hub.

Fast forward to one year later, I was done with University in October and applications for the #Learnable program starts in February the next year, about the same time I was supposed to apply for NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) as expected of every Nigerian student but I can’t leave Enugu just yet without getting into #Learnable. So I applied for the #Learnable program and went back to familiarize myself again with ‘hello world!’, I started from the scratch again and thanks to the #Learnable curriculum and FreeCodeCamp , I was soon coding average web pages and this time, also solving JavaScript problems in no time. I passed the first stage of the application and waited for the next which was a phone call interview to get to know me, this was around the time Covid-19 decided to ruin everyone’s 5-year plans and everything was put on hold for some time. My phone call interview was great (at least as my first ever interview as a graduate). Thanks to God and also to Ezra (Should have been Sir Ezra but it’s a rule never to call anyone at Genesys ‘Sir’) who was easy going, patient and helpful too. He advised I get more familiar with technical terms and to keep an open mind through out the process- the Interviews and the actual internship (if I got in).

Taking advantage of the nationwide lock down, I gained some more confidence while waiting to either be kicked out or move on to the next stage. Some days later, I got a mail that I passed the last stage and my next interview which was supposed to be physical at the hub have been moved online and I was supposed to log in some days later at the said time and take the testssssssssss. I wish I could put more emphasis on the ‘s’ in tests. It was over 2 hours of marathon tests. I think I enjoyed the personality and code test the most. I could to know about my work place personalities: Cooperative, Ambiverted, Conventional and Patient. (Yup, that’s me). Although I will have to make some adjustments.

Some really really really long weeks later, I got a mail that my application was successful. Man, I can’t possibly explain the joy in written text. I was super excited to know I got in but with Covid doing the most, I soon lost some of those vibes as the mail said our induction would be online. *sighs. It won’t be that bad I thought, I struggled with poor internet connection joining the induction on zoom, coupled with power issues, I had to be reminded I was still in Nigeria. The induction was great, We met some amazing persons like Joshua, Blessing, Osita (AKA Ayahmatanga, The learnable boss), Jerry, Ezra (yes the same Ezra) and some others. They told us their personal Genesys stories, some more stories about the #Learnable program, the do’s and don’ts and how the program would go. No! we didn’t get the tour, I didn’t photograph the swans like I pictured in my head, no Lunch break too like in Somto Ezechi’s induction story. I was just sad I was still seeing Genesys on screen, like Moses seeing the promise land and not entering. To top it all, for precautionary measures, the first 3 months of the internship would be virtual. Covid really won points here. But we move regardless.

Classes/meetings would hold on Slack, Zoom and Teachable. I could tell from the chats during our induction that I’d be dealing with some really amazing and funny co-interns. This is my first assignment as a #Learnable intern — A story of my journey so far into Tech and how I got into the Genesys Tech Hub’s #Learnable program.

I might have left out some details, probably because I talk more in pictures than in words, but I do hope to make the most of this opportunity and share more about my journey here.

I am Ifechi and this is my Tech Genesys.