The Ripple Effect: How One Brave Decision Can Inspire a Chain of Positive Change.

Embrace the Climb Series
Story By: Nunya Yao Klah

My phone beeped, jolting me out of my thoughts. I fumbled for it, heart pounding with anticipation. As I read the text message, my world shifted. After months of anxious waiting, I finally received the news I had been praying for. I had been accepted into the University of Ghana to study BSc. Computer Science.

For as long as I could remember, I had been fascinated by the power and potential of computers. I spent countless hours tinkering with my computer and reading books on programming, dreaming of the day when I could turn my passion into a career. As my friends received their acceptance letters, I felt my hopes slipping away. But that all changed on a fateful evening when I received a life-changing text message. I was going to be a computer scientist! And yes in the next four years, I would become the next Bill Gates or perhaps Steve Jobs. Well, it did not turn out that way, nevertheless, I strongly believe that I am taking the steps day by day and getting closer to my dreams.

My journey to becoming a software engineer has been shaped by a series of experiences and activities that have helped me grow and develop my skills. During my time at university, I was involved in various activities, particularly in my third and fourth years when I realised that I needed to gain practical skills to succeed after graduation.

I was passionate about building tech communities and fostering collaboration, so I applied to be a Google Developer Students Club Lead, but unfortunately missed out on the opportunity after my first major interview. Despite this setback, I learned from the experience and went on to become an Ingressive Campus Ambassador, which gave me the chance to build a tech community on campus, teach fellow students, and collaborate with industry experts.

In my third year, I had the idea to create an app that would enable users to collect feedback from a target audience. Since Flutter had just been released, I decided to learn it and use it to build the app, which I called Quevy. This was a significant learning experience for me, as it involved creating mockups, designing in Figma, and publishing the application to the Play Store.

I subsequently started attending Agile meetups, where I met Denis Machu, who has been mentoring me ever since. Another turning point in my journey occurred during the COVID-19 era. Just a few days after the lockdown, Denis presented me with an opportunity to intern as a software engineer in a fintech startup. This was a bold step, as there was still the scare of COVID-19, and I was also in my final year in school working on my final year project. However, my goal has always been to acquire skills, so I took the opportunity and worked as an intern while in school.

This turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. I had the opportunity to work in the software engineering space and work on a product that was getting ready to be launched into the Ghanaian market. As a side note, I must say that one of the best places to learn and to pick up skills is in a startup environment. This is because this kind of environment is normally fast-paced and broad, so you get to learn quickly and work with different technologies.

As I reflect on my journey so far, I can’t help but acknowledge the challenges I’ve faced. It hasn’t been a smooth climb to where I am today, but rather a series of ups and downs, successes and rejections. I’ve had to push through tough interviews, learn new tools and programming languages, work for free just to gain new skills, and even work hard to keep my grades up in maths 😅 (which was no easy feat!).

But despite all of this, I’m proud of where I am now. I work as a software engineer, using some really cool languages like Elm (which is a story for another day). And while I know there’s still a long way to go, I’m excited for the future and the possibilities it holds. I believe that with dedication and hard work, I can achieve my dreams.

So I remind myself of the mantra: “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.” Each day, as I take steps towards my goals, no matter how small. And with each step, I feel more and more confident that I’m on the right path.

Q: Which book/books, either your favourite or one that you have recently read, that has brought about a significant change in your perspective or way of thinking?

• Zero to One
• The Science of Getting Rich

I believe that the actions you take every day are reflective of the person you will become in the future. Can you share some of the things that you do on a daily basis?”

• Yeah , specifically this year I have been trying to build a good sleep routine so I mostly sleep between the hours of 10:00 PM — 10:30 PM and wake up before 6:00 AM

Q: Worst piece of advice you have ever received

Q: Best piece of advice you have ever received

There are a lot of good pieces of advice I have received, I am finding it difficult to pick one out but I think I would go with: Life is spiritual, this piece of advice cuts across every dimension of life and is very important to me. I try as much as possible to establish things in the spiritual so they can manifest physically and what I mean by that is speaking positively (because apparently the words we speak are powerful), staying away from negative energy, praying(I am a Christian) and building up strong thoughts and desires of the things I want.

Q: The thing/things you are mostly proud of.

I am grateful and proud of myself, especially for how far I have come.

Q: If you had to take a walk with someone regardless dead/alive who will it be and why?

I think Bill Gates, I have read a lot about him, and I am very fascinated by his personality and how he thinks. Wow, I can't imagine being mentored by him or even getting to code along with him when he was in his prime. That would be cool!