This week marks my first year at my current job.
I can't quite believe it's been twelve full months at this company, with this team, in front of this laptop. Time flew, and yet it also feels like I've been here forever. I take that as a good sign, comfortable enough that it feels like my place, but interesting and hectic enough that the year disappeared in a blink.
It's been a fantastic time. I don't have many other words for it.
Since I joined there's been a genuine effort to make me feel welcome, valued, and part of something bigger. The mission of the company is clear from day one and runs through every team and process, but it never feels suffocating. It's motivating. It pushes you to be better without demanding it.
That culture of constant improvement is something I don't take for granted. It's been clear from the start that becoming the best version of myself was on me. Not for lack of support, quite the opposite. You have essentially unlimited access to help and resources. You just have to recognise that and act on it. Nobody here is ever annoyed with you for trying to get better.
The people deserve their own paragraph. I've worked at international companies for most of my career, and it still amazes me to see this kind of blend of people, cultures and backgrounds. Everyone brings something, and the collective gets richer for it. I feel fortunate to work with a team I genuinely like and to have crossed paths with so many good professionals and good human beings.
There have been plenty of challenges in a year. Adjusting to a bigger, more structured environment took time. I was exposed to code and processes that were different from anything I'd worked with, operating at a level I hadn't seen up close before. I had to adapt, and that friction is exactly what made me grow.
When I look back at where I was a year ago, I see a scared and anxious version of myself. I didn't believe in myself. Even sending the CV felt absurd, and I fully expected it to be binned. Then the interviews started coming, and I started passing them. But I was afraid of the future, of my trajectory, of a sense of self-worth that barely existed.
I feel better now. The problems didn't vanish, but I can see a path and I'm doing my best to stay on it. Being surrounded by capable people and being handed progressively harder challenges has slowly convinced me that I'm not as inadequate as I always assumed. I've learned that I can aim at things, put real effort behind them, and actually get there.
These milestones are worth marking. They're a chance to look back at the progress, at what worked and what evolved. They're also a chance to look honestly at what went less well and think about where to put more effort. And they're a natural moment to ask what comes next. What I've realised is that I still have an enormous amount to learn, and plenty of areas I want to dig into properly. I know I'm in the right place. The rest is on me.
For most of my career I worked with a simple mindset: become a better developer. Which is fine, but far too diffuse. I now understand that planning the journey properly is what lets me stay focused, ask for the right resources, and have actual benchmarks to work against.
Joining this company has multiplied my skills. Professionally, relationally, personally. I haven't regretted the decision for a single moment. Now it's about continuing on this path without slowing down. There's still a lot to do, a lot to learn, and a lot still ahead.