WHO ARE YOU?!?
Hi! The world calls me Ahmad, but I prefer Moodie on the internet.
Why Moodie? Cause Why not?
A Little Background I’m a Data Engineer, but not by choice. After university, I struggled to find a job, and this was the first opportunity that came my way. It became my entry point into the tech world.
To any student reading this: Please, for the love of God, do whatever it takes to get experience early.
Before fully sending myself into coding, I was making music. I still do, but not as much. These days, I mostly create ideas for more talented friends, who either use small pieces or develop them further.
You’re probably asking:
“Why did you fully commit to coding?”
Great question.
There comes a point in life when you have to let go of certain dreams in pursuit of something greater.
Believe it or not, I never really tried in university while studying Computer Science. It wasn’t because it was too easy—far from it. In fact, this degree was the first time I got humbled academically. But to be honest, I was never a great student. I just knew enough to get by with a C, and that mindset followed me into university. Another regret? Maybe. But not really.
I just didn’t have clarity about what I wanted from life.
It wasn’t until after I graduated and building 10+ projects on my own that I realized how beautiful coding was. The ability to bring ideas to life was something I had never fully appreciated before.
The feeling of solving a problem after banging your head against it for hours is unmatched. It’s as beautiful as finding the right chord in music. Both give me the same rush. But with coding, I feel like I can create more value for the world.
Fixing My Mistakes & Leveling Up
Now, I’m correcting the mistakes I made in university. I’m relearning the fundamentals and challenging myself to master my development environment.
One of my goals for 2025 is to stop using my trackpad and do everything with the keyboard (shoutout to ThePrimeagen for inspiring this challenge).
Back in university (2017–2021), I didn’t have access to creators like Theo and Primeagen, or maybe my algorithm was just flooded with music. Either way, I never had senior-level coders guiding me.
Watching them now, seeing how they approach problems, read documentation, and write clean code has completely changed my mindset. That’s the level I’m working towards.
What Value Do I Want to Bring?
Fair question.
I want to help people with big ideas who don’t believe in themselves.
Self-doubt held me back in music, and no matter how many people enjoyed my work, it never felt like enough. I wasted 25 years in that mindset.
But something changes when you throw yourself into the unknown.
For me, that unknown was leaving home during one of Canada’s worst economic downturns, moving to the second most expensive city in the country (Toronto), and pursuing self-identity and growth.
I don’t know if I’m shaping myself into the person I want to be or discovering the person I’m meant to be—but either way, I’ve given myself one year to push my limits.
And to do that, I need to let go of my ego and share my journey.
Will this have value? I don’t know.
But I do know that my future self will regret it if I don’t try—and that’s reason enough.
My 2025 Goals
- Learn Vim (Prime got me into his cult 😅)
- Learn React/Next.js/T3 Stack (Theo got me into his cult too)
- Build my first personal business and get one real customer (who isn’t me)
I hope you enjoyed this read! I’m challenging myself to write weekly blogs and document my journey.
Oh, and one last thing:
Everything I write is not by AI. AI is only used for grammar, spelling, and flow. Thoughts and ideas are all mine.
Moodie