Want to never fail? Oussama's secret is to keep trying.

Growing up and living in Lebanon is not easy. Recently, Lebanese people have had to battle with a deepening financial crisis with growing impacts on day-to-day life. But Oussama has always been ambitious and ready to navigate barriers towards building a career.

"Lebanon is the obstacle basically," Oussama explained, "but I am too calm to panic, so I don’t really care about obstacles, I move on no matter what. I was my motivation, and I still am. It’s all about the mentality cause whenever I fail, I learn from my mistakes, so there's no such thing called failure if you keep trying."

But, with few operational banking systems, many main services damaged, electricity only available for a few hours a day, and high internet costs, it's hard to stay motivated and keep pushing.

Recalibrating careers

Oussama had always dreamed of becoming a nurse. He was fascinated by how the human body worked and performed. However, university had other plans for him.

"My school didn't really let me choose to study Biology the last year, and I had to study the mathematical field." Oussama explained.

Luckily for Oussama, computer science was in the math field, "Technology took a huge part in my life since I was a kid so it was computer science who chose me, not the other way around.”

While studying computer science at the Lebanese University, Oussama wanted to get ahead in his career. He started working in video editing and transitioned to web development—all before he was 23 years old.

Oussama wasn't sure what was next for him, but he had heard that Re:Coded bootcamps are intense and would give him the technical and soft skills to start an international career potentially.

“I didn’t even think I was gonna get accepted in Re:Coded, because there were a lot of people applying from three different countries, and the bootcamp was only for 50 students. So I told myself there is no chance whatsoever." Oussama remembered, "but again, I want a challenge, so I was like why not?”

Oussama was nervous as he moved forward through the application stages with Re:Coded. It was hard to believe that it might actually work out and that, even with such a tough situation within Lebanon, this could be something positive for his career.

“I remember I saw the acceptance email about 11 pm, so everyone was sleeping, and I wanted to start screaming so badly because I couldn’t believe it. but I couldn’t because I don’t want to sleep outside tonight." Oussama laughed, "I could not sleep that night”

Equipped for the future

“I learned a lot of new things during the bootcamp, and I learned what, when, and where to use what I already knew! I had a lot of misconceptions about React, so there were a lot of WOW moments for me!”

Getting close to graduating from the Frontend Bootcamp, Oussama is ready to become an accredited developer in the market. He'll be able to start his job search confidently, thanks to the career support he received during the bootcamp.

Oussama is now equipped with the soft and hard skills he needs to start this journey as a great developer. He still has to learn a lot and keep working hard, but now he has learned how to learn. And better yet, he has the resilience and determination to overcome any barrier or doubt in his path.