Syed Shahzaib's Journey
In 2007, during my high school days, like most of the fathers, mine had also decided the path to be followed in my career. His dream was that I should become an Electrical Engineer. I tried several times, but I never seemed to get pre-engineering right—not because I was a weak student, but simply because this was not what I was passionate about. My actual interest lay with computers.
I remember the old days of trying to figure out how to install operating systems when the internet was barely off the ground. Dialing in through the local area Internet providers, I was just lucky enough to be a part of Vypress Chat. Starting with a little harmless hacking, I had a myriad of Trojan horses running loose on my PC. I was reinstalling that too decorative "Windows XP" at least several times a day, so I remember one key today: QW4HD-DQCRG-HM64m-6GJRK-8K83t." I swear, I inserted it correctly on the first attempt without having to search online. That is when my interest in programming really took off. It took me nearly a year to learn how to create a registration page with the help of Google and YouTube. It was the time when most the people were unaware of the existence of search engines and YouTube. I connected the database using Dreamweaver's GUI editor.
When I finally learned how to create a registration page, my interest in programming grew out of nowhere. When only OLX was present in Pakistan, I developed a fully functional classified site. But I really did not know how to sell it, I was still struggling with my pre-engineering exams, so I experimented for a while. One day, my father watched an ad, I started doing my diploma from Aptech Computer Education, Pakistan. Did my BSCS, got practical experience through internships and jobs, till today, when I boast of years of industry experience and a thriving career. I have faced many challenges and made sure to deliver successful results, including working with Google's Singapore Marketing Team for one of their campaigns.
As to one of my proudest accomplishments, I would say the latest has been completing my first major life goal: performing Umrah with my parents, wife, and three kids.
