Thread Back in 2017 I was transitioning from C/C++ image processing desktop application role. And I quit the job that I was at for 7 years. Packed up my shit and moved to a new city without a real gameplan and invested completely into #Golang

There is a certain dread that comes from seeing new technology make what you've invested in over the course of a career useless. Part of you is honestly impressed at how nice the new thing is, the other part wants it to fail so bad, b/c of amazing it is.

What I specialized in over the course of 7 years as a programmer, was being made useless by advancements in artificial intelligence. I was quickly seeing myself becoming redundant along with my industry. I needed to pivot. It was time to update my skillsets and transition.

I had followed #Golang since 2011 because of the wide acclaim it was receiving from seasoned C programmers. The language looked familiar enough but had enough newness to make a developer fall in love.

But did a self-taught African programmer without a degree have a place in the Go community? @carmatrocity answers, a loud yes. Carmen gave me the encouragement to go all in and bet on #golang

I finally settle into my new place & dig deep into #golang, a few months go by, my savings are dwindling. I'm absorbing a lot of experience and information, I launched 3 failed companies during this period and had a mentor try and get me to sign away rights to my company.

Interview after interview, I get great feedback on my communication, ability to solve code challenges, and general knowledge. But I'm missing the production experience. The projects I worked on previously weren't large enough in scale and I didn't have enough CS theory.

It's winter now, I'm thinking I need to give up on #Golang and brush up on C# or #PHP and take one of those corporate jobs and give up on my dreams of being a Go backend engineer. But a thought arrives, maybe I should get on Twitter and connect with some people before giving up.

It's new years and I start Tweeting what I've learned, my interests & I start connecting with some big names in the #Golang community. My Twitter feed becomes a fire hose of good tips, learning resources & industry insights. I'm dangerous now

Suddenly I'm getting offers from all the right companies and I don't have to worry about my savings going negative. I then land a great role in telecom on a team willing to give me a chance. I learn a lot on the job and grow.

Fast forward, I get an opportunity to finally meet some of the people in the #Golang community. I get an all-expenses-paid conference trip through the amazing @GopherCon org. Finally, I get to meet these amazing Twitter personalities in real life.

I fly out to San Deigo for the conference and boy was it an experience. Sad parts first, some of my heroes from my TL were horrible people in real life. And some of the most amazing people I got to meet at the conference have less than 500 followers.

I quickly learned at the conference that you should never approach professional personalities in the #Golang community,. Or risk being subtweeted for "not respecting their wish to just attend the conference and hang out with their friends".

My first half of the conference was filled with all the #Golang personalities people on my timeline giving me the cold shoulder, I quickly gave up on trying to meet the same ppl I was friends with on the TL. I quickly started seeing a pattern, I and others weren't "cultural fits"

The first friendly person I met at the conference was actually after I ended up giving up on trying to meet anyone else. I went to sit down and recharge my social batteries. Saw @odeke_et outside trying to get back in and let him in.

@odeke_et spent 40 mins just chatting with me, making me feel included and sharing some good insights about #golang. It was only later that I realized how much he contributes to the community! But I was charged back up and ready to start networking again.

When I finally met @carmatrocity I was emotional. She was busy meeting ppl & helping out, but she made time to chat and let me know I belonged. She meant every work in her keynote from GothamGo 2017. She really cares about diversity, she's good people.

Next, I met up with @jboursiquot, he memorized every black attendee's name, went above & beyond to network us & make us feel included. He even modified his slides last min to put us in it. He is one of the most selfless, giving individuals you'll ever meet

The rest of the conference was bittersweet. Disappointment in many of the personalities I followed, but absolutely blown away by how amazing the community was. By day 3 I had already gotten so much in the form of opportunities and made so many new friends.

When I returned from the conference simply saying I met recruiter x at the conference put me at the front of the list for interviews. I ended up getting so many great career opportunities as a result. And it completely changed my life for the better.

I have since been happily professionally employed as a #Golang backend engineer the dream really came together. Now that I've actually here in this community, I want to make sure I do more to make new folks feel included.