Life itself is nothing but sort of a code we program our way through, one problem at a time. This is the only thing one needs to keep in mind while trying to be a competent programmer. All of us aim to reach a goal someday, and more often than not, we need support to realize that goal. Someone was that support for me in my journey. The only thing I am hoping to do is become that support for someone else that looks up to me.
Growing up in a small town near Rajasthan, you become a part of this inevitable culture of understanding stem fields as your only career option. Everyone around wishes to be a doctor or an engineer, and not that I am not happy being an Engineer today. Looking back on how all these things fell into places, I don’t think I was exposed to a lot of other options.
This is Abhishek Chandel, and I did my engineering at a reputed college in the state that is NIT Jaipur, following which I got placed in Samsung. The company as all of us know provided me with everything that I could have wished for in terms of exposure and growth, and even after having been a part of the organization for more than a decade now, I still feel like I am learning something new every day and that is phenomenal.
As a child, I was very curious. I was always looking for opportunities to explore possibilities in every direction and not just computers, I pedaled through storytelling and other creative dimensions of my personality as well. I think this inquisitiveness is what helped me develop a foundation for my being, where I could break the monotony and become who I wanted to be.
My tryst in the sphere of programming began somewhere in the middle of my high school days. Even though the things that I learned then were only basics, they did somehow form some sort of a liking that I eventually worked upon later in my college days. I began doing competitive programming and problem-solving exercises to boost my technique and skills but it only got serious when I found my confidant in my younger brother, who started to develop an interest similar to mine. We bonded over these problems and found their solutions together, and this shared experience somehow changed the whole game for me.
My college days were some of the best days of my life. However, the programming culture then was not even half of what it is today. People were figuring out what this engineering aspect meant for the world and the industry, and I somehow found my way into the cult. Having been interested in solving mathematical and physics problems all my life, programming felt like a world waiting to be explored. It somehow filled a void in my life that I never knew existed, and to feel this passion and interest so closely has been nothing short of a blessing.
I work in the capacity of a Chief Engineer here at Samsung, where I contribute technically in terms of designs and architectures of the products that we come up with. I have been a part of many dedicated teams that have developed vital algorithms for better system optimizations and functioning.
Teaching has always been a part of my life. Back in college, I used to be involved in various teaching jobs for a little extra money. However, now with Scaler, it is more of duty towards the community sort of thing. The idea of being associated with someone’s growth is an incredible motivation in all forms. To think that you helped form a skill in someone that is going to do nothing but support them is an incredible feeling and nothing but thankful for that.
I discovered Scaler primarily through the founder himself. Anshuman was one of the top programmers in the country when I was in college, and I have been following his work ever since. Stumbling upon Scaler as an initiative was purely coincidental.
My only advice for my mentees and the students who have just joined Scaler is to understand this duration as a journey towards your growth and come in with zero expectations. You will leave the establishment as a skilled person by all means, but materialistic dreams should never be your aim. Continue with the discipline, crack the idea of the problem and then work towards coding it. Everything else that comes as a consequence of your consistency then will be the cherry on top.