Becoming Again: My Journey Into Web Development and Cyber-security
I’m a software developer and technical writer focused on building and securing web applications. I work across the full stack (MERN) while developing a strong interest in application and API security.
My background in technical writing and API documentation shaped how I think about systems, clarity, structure, and correctness matter as much in code as they do in documentation. I’ve worked with tools like Postman, Swagger, and Figma, and I enjoy translating complex technical ideas into clear, usable knowledge.
These days, I’m learning and writing about web fundamentals, backend systems, and application security, documenting what I build, what I break, and what I’m learning along the way, with an eye toward secure, scalable software and future research.
I didn’t start out as a “tech bro.”
Honestly, I didn’t even know what that meant, I just knew I was curious about web applications.
I studied Computer Science in a polytechnic for five years, but the truth?
I couldn’t code. I only knew programming languages by name, not by skill.
During one of my HND semester exams, a conversation with a friend (now mentor) changed everything.
He shared how internships had transformed people’s careers and encouraged me to explore tech.
The problem? I didn’t even know what I truly wanted.
I’d always been curious about back-end development and cyber security, but I had no direction, no language for it.
A Mentor, A Spark, and the First Step
My research led me to a Data Science internship at Hamoye, which I started but quickly realized wasn’t for me.
I also got into ALX but couldn’t keep up.
Still, I picked up transferable skills like Bash scripting, which later became useful when I switched fully to Linux.
So I started again this time as a UI/UX designer, thinking that would be my real entry into tech.
But something didn’t click.
My mind was still on back end systems and security. I couldn’t commit to design.
Finding My Voice Through Writing
Next came technical writing and API documentation.
I began learning through I’d Rather Be Writing, even though I didn’t fully understand how APIs worked yet.
My friend connected me with a mentor, a technical writer who helped me level up.
I didn’t land a role as an API documenter, but I did get my first breakthrough as a technical writing intern at an open-source organization called Code Collabo (now Collabo Community).
At Collabo, I was mentored by some of the best.
They helped me identify where I struggled in remote work environments and gave me access to resources to grow my coding skills.
Though I didn’t meet the criteria for retention, something bigger had already started.
Full Stack The Shift That Changed Everything
Around the same time, I joined the SAIL Full Stack Software Development Program, and everything changed.
From someone who couldn’t code, I became someone who builds web and mobile apps using the MERN stack and React Native.
As one of my facilitators once said:
“Software development has been the only thing I’ve been successful at. If I tried anything else, I’d fail.”
That became true for me too.
Even after graduating from SAIL, I still wake up every day to write code.
Building… and Realizing What Was Missing
After SAIL, I started building a digital escrow platform to help reduce fraud in online transactions.
But during development, I had a major realization: I could build but I didn’t know how to protect what I was building.
That took me back to my 13-year-old self curious about what made pages load, or how passwords guarded access. That was when I realized what I had always been chasing: Cyber security.
I began learning web application security using platforms like:
🧩 TryHackMe
🧠 PortSwigger
⚙️ VulnHub
I also enrolled in the AltSchool Africa Cybersecurity Diploma, which is giving me the structured learning I need to secure real-world applications.
Coming Full Circle
Looking back, my first ever technical article was about REST APIs, long before I understood their depth.
Now, as a MERN stack developer, I realize I was unknowingly documenting the world I was about to enter.
That article became a quiet foreshadowing of my journey into backend systems and secure applications.
Interestingly, the UI/UX skills I picked up earlier also came full circle, they shaped the creation of the UI for my startup’s MVP at a time I needed them the most.
What once felt like detours were actually foundations being built for where I am now.
🚀 Where I’m Headed
My journey has been anything but linear.
From UI/UX → Technical Writing → Full Stack → Cybersecurity, I’ve learned one truth:
The only way out is through.
Now, I’m focused on:
Building secure web applications
Writing both technical and academic articles
Contributing to open-source security tools
Preparing for a research-backed Master’s program
Helping others understand that your background doesn’t define your future
If you’re just starting, feeling stuck, or questioning your path, I hope this story reminds you that the road won’t be perfect, but it can still be yours.
Tech is shaping my life.
It can shape yours too. If you can think it, you can birth it.
Let’s build.
Let’s be secure.
Let’s grow. 🚀
👣 Next on Hashnode
I’ll be launching a new How-To Series covering the fundamentals of:
HTML → CSS → JavaScript → React → Node.js → Cybersecurity
Stay tuned, it’s going to be real, practical, and beginner-friendly.