As 2025 comes to a close, most people might be winding down, relaxing, or forgetting about school for a few weeks. But I wanted to do something different. Instead of ending the year idle, I decided to challenge myself and take action, so over the past week, I’ve been reaching out to companies I genuinely admire for summer work experience.
So far, I’ve emailed dev.to, and many other small web-based companies. All of these are products I’ve personally used and learned from over the years, and I wanted to see if I could contribute, learn, and gain real-world experience alongside school. It’s one thing to admire a product from the outside, but I wanted to understand what it takes to build it, maintain it, and improve it in a real team.
Alongside school, I’ve been building apps and websites myself. I mainly work with react and next.js, typescript, tailwind, mongodb, supabase, and stripe, and I’ve experimented with mobile apps and my own ai-powered learning tools. taking the initiative to email these companies feels like a natural extension of that; instead of waiting for opportunities, I’m creating them.
It’s been a little intimidating at first. sending emails to companies I’ve looked up to for years felt like putting myself out there, uncertain of what the response would be. But that’s also why it’s worth doing, growth comes from action, even when it feels uncomfortable. Whether or not I get a reply, this exercise has already taught me about confidence, clarity, and taking ownership of my learning.
I’m hoping that by summer, I’ll have the chance to work with one of these teams, even for a week or a month. More importantly, I hope this experience inspires me to keep seeking challenges and learning opportunities wherever I can. Ending the year by doing, rather than waiting, feels like the right note to finish on, and sets the tone for the year ahead.
To those reading this, I wish you a happy new year, and keep on learning!
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