#ConsonanceAt2 Stories: Damilola Akapo
Akapo Damilola Francis is a Senior Technical Consultant at Andela. He Joined us in celebrating our second year anniversary on Sunday the 13th of April 2019 by sharing his inspirational story. His story is very captivating and inspirational.
Here is his story as shared on twitter:
As part of my contribution to @ConsonanceClub’s 2nd year. I will be giving a bit of overview into my career path and answering questions you might have.
#Thread
I was 9 when I first got introduced to the computer. I’d read about them, seen videos and pictures. My first encounter with computers lead to me learning BASIC.
#consonanceAt2 @ConsonanceClub
A quite interesting concept to my young eyes, a quaint programming language with the little interesting GOTOs. After Basic, I played around with COBOL a bit.
I’d always been fascinated with technology because it gives you the power to create.
#consonanceAt2
Being able to create is a very exciting process. Visualizing and solving a problem using technology is one of the few things that excite me except maybe amala when I’m very hungry or astrophysics when I’m bored. I am almost always looking for a new challenge. A few years later, I got admitted into OAU’s department of computer science and engineering. This started a long, seemingly arduous journey of my getting ingrained into the computer science ecosystem. I started writing code with Fortran 95.
#consonanceAt2
I experimented with quite a number of platforms, I wrote Brainfuck at one point, just to prove I could, before settling into mobile technologies. I believed mobile was the next frontier in technological advancement(you’re probably reading this from a mobile device.). I knew I needed people skills to be able to strike a balance between man and the machine. To achieve that, I applied to be a Google student ambassador and I got the role.
I spent a year introducing the students/department/school to Google products and services. It was an exciting experience and made me able to see things from a dual perspective. I did all these while learning to code on the side.
These days, I write mostly Java, Kotlin, and Swift. Although, you’ll find me writing any language as the situation demands. I started building solutions professionally as a freelancer. It was easier to get into, as people tend to be cheapskates and hiring a freelance developer tends to be cheaper than hiring a software engineering firm. Everyone always seemed to have an idea that was going to make them the next Zuckerberg. Quaint, but not always realistic is what I came to realize.
I kept freelancing for a while and got quite good at building solutions using mobile technologies. Then I got my first official gig working for a company (redacted) in Lagos. I worked remotely as I was still an undergraduate at the time. I worked as an Android engineer, I built a lot of products during this period used by thousands of users. Pretty certain you(the reader) must’ve come across my work. 😌
After my time at [redacted] getting the first job wasn’t much of a hassle, I knew my stuff. I got a gig working with another company as contract staff, helping replace the lead mobile dev. While doing this, I was working on a few startups of mine on the side.
My career was basically a mix match of all that and consulting for startups on and off the books until I decided I really didn’t want to work with Lagos companies anymore. I was looking for more challenging problems and they weren’t offering it. I once quit a job after 4 days when I felt the project manager was going to make my life miserable with micromanaging.
Then after a bit of time in remission, I joined Cotta&Cush. I enjoyed my time there, I got to play around with a lot of interesting problems. These days I work mostly at Andela as a senior technical consultant leading the mobile division of a really fast-growing startup in the US of A. I wouldn’t say the journey has been smooth and if I wanted to give a bit of advice it’s this, ask yourself what it is you really want, answer honestly then do the hard work required to get it. Being a software engineer isn’t a walk in a park. It can be quite strenuous and repetitive. Everything in life has its high and lows.
”Nothing is ever easy” — Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander
I also believe that with the right mindset and support system, you can achieve your goals. Whenever I ask myself what it is I want, the answer I give myself is this… I want to solve as many problems as I can, as well as I can while learning at the same time. You can rest assured that that is what the fuck I am doing and I keep getting better at it as time passes.
Thanks for reading.
#consonanceAt2 cc @ConsonanceClub
You can reach out to Damilola on twitter @_fdamilola . I am sure he will be very happy to answer any questions you might have.
Happy Anniversary! :)
