I've been reading articles on DEV for a while, and today I finally decided to step out of the lurker zone and write my very first post! 🚀
👨💻 Who Am I?
I am an undergraduate Computer Science student currently working as a DevOps Engineer (still a bit beyond beginner and learning new DevOps skills every day!).
Before moving into DevOps, I took on freelancing and university projects to cover my university fees. Most were final-year projects for Sri Lankan university students, along with a few real-world client projects. While developing full-stack applications, my curiosity for DevOps began to grow. I started applying basic DevOps practices to my projects - most of them failed, but I learned so much through those failures!
🧠 The "Thirsty Deer" Phase & Curiosity
I’ve always had a habit of exploring new technologies and tech news. Discovering the GitHub Student Developer Pack was a huge turning point for my learning. I explored new tools like a thirsty deer! However, I realized many opportunities were limited for students in Sri Lanka. It was disappointing, but my attitude has always been simple: never give up, keep going, keep digging.
Family is everything to me. Raised by a mother who worked tirelessly as an iron woman to feed us and teach us right from wrong, my ultimate goal is to make her proud one day. ❤️
💻 How It All Started: From Magic to Code
After my Advanced Level examinations, I started working as a Customer Service Officer at Dialog Axiata PLC. With that salary, I bought my very first computer.
Since childhood, I had a serious curiosity about computers — how pictures rendered on screens, how transistors and silicon diodes worked, and how typing a letter on a keyboard made it instantly appear on screen. It felt like absolute magic!
At first, I used my PC mostly for gaming. Naturally, I wondered how these games were built. A quick YouTube search gave me the key: programming.
I picked up Python, and Python felt like magic too. I still remember the day I built my first project - a simple terminal calculator! (And yes, infinite loops used to scare the life out of me back then... golden days! 😂)
🏛️ University Days & The Laptop Savior
Getting accepted into the Computer Science program at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka was a dream come true. I’ll never forget the happy face of my mom the day I got the news. I stepped into university in July 2023.
Shortly after arriving, financial challenges hit hard. I had to learn technologies fast to survive. I took a loan to buy a laptop - an i7 8th Gen HP EliteBook (still using that beast today, my true life savior!). I started doing small university projects for a low price to support myself.
By my second year, I became the President of the Computer Science Society at our university. It was a huge responsibility, but I loved organizing workshops and webinars. I've always believed in sharing knowledge with students who are eager to learn - teaching what I know while learning from everyone around me.
🚀 The Startup Journey & Internship
In university, I met a senior batchmate who shared the same tech vision. He had started a software startup and invited me to join him. We worked together on real-world client projects, which helped me gain hands-on engineering experience and earn an income.
Fast forward to July this year, I officially started my internship with that same company! Currently, I’m working as a Full Stack Developer & DevOps Engineer here.
💎 Why DEV Community Matters in the AI Era
I visited DEV for the first time last year, but I held back from actively posting due to language barriers with English. But I really wanted to connect.
To me, the DEV community is a gem. In today’s AI-driven era, we often rely heavily on AI agents to fix bugs instantly. While that’s great, we sometimes lose the organic knowledge-sharing and experience-building that developers used to have on platforms like Stack Overflow and DEV. Community support, shared experiences, and human learning are more valuable now than ever!
So, from today onwards, I am officially an active member of this awesome community.
Let’s keep shining and building! ✨
Drop a comment below - I’d love to say hi and connect with you all! 👇
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