My Career Changed on a Water Slide

There’s a water slide at a local resort where my career changed.

At the end of 2013, I wrote my first React component. It got 86’d in code review but it was clear that React was the future I wanted.

So, that spring — on a weekend vacation — I read the React docs on my phone while Rock went up and down a children’s water slide a hundred times.

He didn’t mind me ignoring him and I didn’t mind him splashing my every 45 seconds.

I had no idea how that hour would direct my next five years.

The company I work for ended up writing a React app. The lessons I learned turned into a bunch of resources, a few conference talks, and then React Podcast.

5 1/2 years later, I’m at JSConf US watching Ruby go down the same slide a hundred times. This time I’m actually watching — grateful and nostalgic for all the people I’ve met and moments we’ve shared.

🥰 chan

Question: What have your big career moments been? Did they catch you by surprise?