Robijn van Houts

When I was a kid, I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. Some kids had already decided they would become a pilots, a vet, or maybe a real princess. Some of these kids even made it a reality and never deviated from their path all those years. Again, I had no clue.

Every once in a while, I would ask my dad, the man who knew everything about anything, at least that’s what I believed at that age, 'What do you think I will become when I’m older?' The answer would always be: 'A dolphin trainer' (if I were to ask him now, he would probably still say that). It would either make me laugh or piss me off, but it made it clear that even the human version of Wikipedia couldn’t help me out. My mom, on the other hand, never gave a direct answer. She used to say, 'Just make sure you pick one thing you enjoy and become really good at it.' But what thing? I paused the mission to find the answer at age 10...

Fast forward, I finished high school, took a gap year, worked different jobs, and decided to give university a try. Although I enjoyed my first year, I knew from the start that it would not last—too many rules, too much theory, too old of an institution. One educational system can’t work for everyone. Then I started looking into a program called Codam Coding College, a coding study completely based on an autonomous education system. Just you and your peers figuring things out together. I would be able to decide when and how to study, and I would learn a skill and hopefully become really good at it. Therefore, I dove in deep and signed up for the piscine. I got in and really gave it my all.

During the 2 years at Codam, I met my best friends, spent more hours playing ping-pong than writing code, and had a few eureka moments, but mostly felt extremely stupid. Against my expectations, I did really learn some things. I learned to learn, I learned to motivate myself, and I learned to write a bit of code. After a 6-month internship and my first job, I craved something different and more unpredictable. The horizon kept spreading, and my understanding of the world of tech got smaller with every door that opened or topic that popped up. To stay afloat, I started reaching out to people I knew in the industry and read more and more about different companies, sectors, and positions.

When I first set foot in the Miyagami office, it was just to have a little peek. I met some of the people and sat with Dale, who answered all of my questions. After that visit, I felt very motivated and inspired. The energy in the office, the variety of people, and most importantly, the infectious enthusiasm. So, it led to more conversations, and I switched jobs to start a position at Miyagami. I am still very grateful for this opportunity and feel lucky to be a part of this team. Every day I go into the office excited about what the day will bring: a challenge, an achievement, some inspiration, but, to be honest, I'm mostly excited to find out which stupid joke I will be laughing at the hardest that day because believe me, that’s our real talent.

My advice? Make sure you pick one thing you enjoy and become really good at it, or become a dolphin trainer.