Let me take you back to the beginning of my journey as a DevOps Engineer, when the concept was entirely foreign to me. But before delving into that, I'd recommend reading my previous article, where I detail how I stumbled into the realm of DevOps.
The First Day
It all began on April 12, 2021, my first day as an Intern Developer within the organization. After a seamless onboarding process, I found myself placed within the DevOps Platform Team. Initially, I was adrift, unsure of my role. The following day, I met my teammates, and a buddy was assigned to guide me through any uncertainties. That's when it hit me—I was tasked with diving into the world of DevOps. Armed with links to documentation and YouTube channels, I was instructed to participate in stand-up calls and absorb as much as possible.
The Early Days
At first, it felt like navigating through a dense fog; I had no familiarity with the tools or technologies involved. So, I delved into the provided resources, spending hours poring over documentation and watching tutorials. My first Google search? "What is DevOps, and what exactly does a DevOps Engineer do?" For weeks, that was my routine—join calls, read, watch, absorb.
When the Fog Began to Lift
Gradually, though, the fog began to lift. I found myself not only understanding DevOps but also developing a genuine appreciation for it. Then came the pivotal moment—an assignment to log in to an AWS account and write Terraform code to deploy a demo project to Lambda. It was a daunting task, taking me a week to complete successfully. But when I finally accessed that static website, something clicked. I grasped the fundamental processes and tasks ahead of me.
Overwhelming Jargon
Yet, every day introduced new jargon—provisioning, managing, scaling, deploying, orchestrating, IaC, CI/CD, and the list went on. It was overwhelming, but I resolved to tackle each term one by one, Googling and studying diligently. Git, CI/CD pipelines, AWS services, Terraform, infrastructure as code (IaC), deployments—the sheer volume of information threatened to drown me at first. But as days turned into months, everything started falling into place. My brain began weaving connections between the disparate pieces of knowledge.
From Intern to Full-Time
Eventually, I earned a full-time opportunity, gaining access to the infrastructure repository. It took weeks to unravel its complexities, but slowly, I started making meaningful contributions. Task after task was assigned to me, and with each completion, my confidence and passion for DevOps grew. I found myself able to articulate my role and responsibilities to family and friends—a far cry from the bewildered novice I once was.
The Present Day
And today, three years later, I stand firm in my understanding of what I do, what lies ahead, and the path I've traversed. It's been an overwhelming journey, but one that has led me to discover my true passion. There is a lot to learn and achieve in the future, and I look forward to every step of it.