How I fell in love when I entered into web3

Let me introduce myself, at the time when l write this I am 20 years old and I have been involved in the blockchain community for just over a year. I know very few people close to my age in the ecosystem. I see many people who arrived after practicing a profession for a while and now dedicate themselves to build new technologies in the community, but, what should I do in my case? When I am looking for my first job, going out for the first time to discover a world of work different from the one I have seen my entire life?

The answer came when I fell in love.

Note: my intention is to share a little of what I experienced from the point of view of my generation.

I was 19 years old when I went to my first technology conference from a virtual tech school (platzi), I decided to say hello to one of my favorite professors from the blockchain school and she ends up inviting me to a hackathon. What's that? She only gives me the date, the place, a link, and asks me if I know how to program or what skills I have. Although I could not fully understand what I was going to see, I go, with a terrible fear of the unknown and of not being prepared.

How did I find out about blockchain? When I was a teenager I had read about cryptocurrencies when I was interested in reading cybersecurity topics, and when I was enrolled in the virtual school my curiosity to understand more about virtual currencies led me to learn basic aspects of blockchain.

When the day came, I alone took the fear that I brought with me and forced myself to go in. I ordered a coffee, standing at a table, observed the people around me and someone approached, de asked me about myself naturally, and I told him that It was my first time at an event of this type, he calmed me down by telling me not to worry, that everyone was new at this at one time, and that we are always here to learn something new. Suddenly more people arrived, and I found myself talking and meeting people non-stop for hours.

When I looked for hacking equipment, I introduced myself as a designer, and at some point a guy close to my age told me he was looking for a designer and wanted to talk to me, at first was about the project he was doing and offered me a job, but we ended up talking for hours about other topics. At the hackathon we spent a lot of time together, we went out drinking, we watched movies, I showed him a little of the city... a romance was forming, but we still didn't accept it.

I participated with a team and we managed to win a minor prize, I surrounded myself with people with very different points of view than what I was used to, people who had studied history or financial administration talking about changing governance, questioning the system at the time. Every day, for the first time, I felt that those ideas were not so far from my reality, that a better future can be built and we are not alone as a generation with that goal.

The moment I returned to my city, I thanked the boy for the time we shared, and I promised myself that it would change my life, which definitely happened, but not in the way I expected, and in a longer time than I expected.

Suddenly I began to spend almost every night talking for hours with him, first he began to tell me about his life in a fit of sincerity, then it was me, in the midst of so many talks we showed the other a very different point of view to the other, and that enriched us greatly. At the same time, he gave me the opportunity to work as a designer on his project, but I confessed to him that I really didn't had much skill and that I wouldn't be able to do it. For a month I was exploring the paths of design, but I couldn't really connect with it, they didn't choose me for the job even though he told me that he was capable of doing anything to help me, it was a barrier that I myself had to break, and he understood it later.

Personally, even though my parents taught me that I had to learn something and become good enough to get a job at it, I never had enough discipline to become one in a specific field, the reason why deserves another writing, but I emphasize that it is something that my generation suffers a lot from (at least a good number of young adults).

He also witnessed the struggle I faced over my questions about what I study, pressure from my parents and teachers, having to explore the difficulties of growing, the problem of being afraid to take risks, while I observed how he had a life that in his words "was for someone older", he did not finish his time of study and dedicated himself to something totally opposite to what he studied, I have observed how he changed as a person thanks to his work and personal experiences.

One day, he stopped talking to me, I knew nothing but to be disappointed and move on with my life, with that I learned to love him in a detached way. Some time later he looked for me again, I found out that he had a partner, and of course, so did I. We opened up about our feelings, and even though we both felt something, we went to other people.

Here a new chapter of romance opens where we end up being one of the reasons why the other breaks up with his partner, we had a journey where we end up exploring our feelings and desires, but I told him to go back to have some time to think and focus on my projects.

One day I mentioned to him that I had read about DeSci, the topic that l have been looking for since I entered blockchain, something that units what I study and a futuristic vision. He encouraged me tirelessly and told me that he would help me to look for work, I reflected that something I have skill in is writing, so he introduced me to people, he gave me the push he needed and I started moving. I can't forget that he kept telling me, “if you don't believe in yourself, I'll do it for you”.

And this is only the beginning, there are still many things that I do not understand about the ecosystem, I still feel insecurities, but I have learned that in addition to the importance of contacts, this environment is perfect for growing, innovating, there is no occupational toxicity, people talk openly about problems to be fixed, there are many people willing to teach, and it is up to me how far I go.

And with the boy, I don't know what lies ahead for us, we have reached an agreement where we remain good friends, but something tells me that we have a long way to go. I have learned that feelings can be something complex, but they also teach us a lot about ourselves, our shortcomings, desires, things that we lack, what we like, what we can't stand, and how far we can go for someone else.