ZERO to ONE: Lockdown Entrepreneur to NITian & Coder!

Introduction

Welcome Friends! In this blog, I'll be sharing a snippet of my life journey, a journey filled with resilience, learning, and a passion for exploration. Buckle up as I take you through the chapters of my life, from the lockdown ventures that shaped my entrepreneurial spirit to my current endeavors at NIT Rourkela.

Lockdown Chronicles: Exploring Opportunities

The lockdown presented an unexpected opportunity for self-discovery. At the tender age of 15, I delved into the world of online entrepreneurship. From an online reselling business to exploring various tech avenues on YouTube, I managed to make my first bucks with zero investment. Little did I know, this was just the beginning.

Tech Geek: Mastering Digital Marketing

With a keen interest in technology, I dived into mastering the art of building WordPress and WooCommerce sites, blogging, and understanding SEO and SMM. The culmination of these skills resulted in the creation of SocialRaze.com, a Celebrity Biography Blog that garnered 2-3K daily visitors and a steady $2-5 per Day AdSense income in Aug 2021 after which it got sold for 40K INR.

Lessons from the Crypto World & Investing

Not one to shy away from risks, I ventured into the world of crypto trading during a major bull run. At 15, using my parent's credentials, I invested at the peak through an app promoted by notable figures. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt, leading to a loss of over 40K. Nevertheless, the lessons learned were invaluable.

Earning at Fifteen: A Milestone Achieved

Throughout the lockdown, I managed to earn over 1 Lakh Rupees, a significant achievement for someone of my age. The experience fueled my passion for exploration, and the prospect of earning became a driving force in my journey.

Board Exams and Distinctions

Transitioning to +2, I focused on my studies, excelling in board exams with a score of 97.2%. I emerged as the Institute and District Topper, earning recognition from leading media brand of the state SAMBAD & Kanak News for CBSE State Toppers.

Navigating the College Journey

With confusion to whether take up CS in the State's best State Govt College CET or VSSUT or Join a National Level Institute NIT Rourkela, coming among the Top Engineering Colleges of the Country and among the Top 3 NITs. I decided to choose NITR because of the Alumni Network, Exposure and the Brand value of NITIAN tag which comes with it. I missed Industrial Design by 1 seat in JOSSA and later secured admission to NIT Rourkela in B.tech Ceramic Engineering during CSAB. My seniors wisely advised me to pursue a 4-year program aligning with my software interests so didn't take up Metallurgy or Mining 5-year Dual Degree program which was available to me.

Coding Beginnings at NIT Rourkela

The journey continued at NIT Rourkela, where I started my coding journey in Development. Explored basic DSA in Java before joining NIT RKL, but later paused DSA and went on to Development currenly. By the end of 1st semester, I've had joined Open Source Club "OpenCode NITR" and Web Dev Team of my branch's Student Chapter "InCerS - Indian Ceramic Society". Then, I explored Git, GitHub, and joined Harkirat Singh cohort 2.0, where I ventured into Full Stack Development.

Current Exploration and Future Goals

I've had studied Networking, Python and MySQL during Class 11th & 12th. Currently, I'm engrossed in learning JavaScript, Nodejs, Express.js, MongoDB, and PostGreSQL. My future goals include diving deep into backend and Web3 development, learning Solidity, GoLang, and actively contributing to the open-source community.

The Hackathon Experience

As I step into the world of coding challenges, I got my first mini Hackathon experience with the Internal Club Hackathon "Samagam" where I built AgroSphere - An AgriTech Project and I'm looking forward to participate in HackNITR. Exciting times await as I continue to build and learn in public.

My 1st Official Hackathon participation was in HackNITR 5.0, which comes under MLH. The 24 hours taught a lot to me. I got to know about the different tactics and tips which hackers use to win the hackathon. This also inspired me to go deep down on development and really dedicate myself for winning than just merely for experience purposes that I was doing till now.

I think this was a overall great experience. The project which we tried to do in those 24 hours was a Language Learning Website where people could learn a foreign language through interactive lessons and recommendations, articles, tests, quizzes, songs and movies.

New Start or Restart?

So here's to a journey that started with lockdown ventures and continues at NIT Rourkela, filled with lessons, milestones, and a determination to code my way to new horizons. I've created WEBDSA for sharing my Knowledge and Experience in Tech and Coding as I traverse the Journey to Make It Large! Join me on this exciting ride by subscribing the Newsletter and Connecting on Socials! 🚀 #BuildInPublic #LearnInPublic #CodingJourney #Entrepreneurship

Current Websites:

• Subham Sahoo: Portfolio Website

• Imaze Tool: Image Tools Website

• Wikitry: Biography Blog

• Social Cry: Lifestyle Blog

• SEO Astra: SEO Tools Website

• WEBDSA: Web Development & DSA Website

I had covered this story on X (formely "Twitter") on this thread:

You can connect with me on Twitter & LinkedIn, where I'm most active at the moment. All my social media profiles have the username @realsubhamsahoo

As this was my 1st Article, I've shared a snippet of my life infront of you guys. Further articles I'll be covering Technical Stuff, primarily MERN Stack content as I learn through it. You can treat it as a Online MERN Stack Guide! See Ya!