I have e spent a lot of my life thinking that growth came from having answers. What I'm discovering is that growth comes from asking questions, being willing to be wrong, staying curious, building things despite uncertainty, and trusting myself to figure things out along the way.
There are still moments when I question whether I'm capable of understanding certain concepts. Even now, I can spend hours wrestling with problems that more experienced developers seem to understand immediately. A recent example was Rust's ownership system. At first, it felt completely counterintuitive. Why was the compiler complaining when the code looked perfectly reasonable to me? Why couldn't I use a value after passing it to a function? Why did borrowing and references seem to create more questions than answers?
I found myself reading documentation, revisiting explanations, experimenting with code, and running into the same compiler errors repeatedly. Each time I thought I had finally understood ownership, another example would expose a gap in my understanding. It was frustrating because the concept seemed so obvious once someone explained it, yet difficult to internalize when writing code myself.
What I've learned from experiences like this is that understanding rarely arrives all at once. It usually comes in layers. Every failed attempt, every compiler error, and every moment of confusion adds another piece to the puzzle. I'm still learning, but I have become more comfortable with the process. Instead of seeing confusion as a sign that I don't belong, I'm starting to see it as evidence that I'm stretching beyond what I already know.
The lesson isn't really about Rust. It's about accepting that growth often feels uncomfortable while it's happening. The concepts that challenge me the most are usually the ones that teach me the most.
If there is one thing that has consistently pushed me forward, it's curiosity. I have never been the person who instantly understands everything on the first attempt. More often than not, my progress comes from asking one more question, reading one more article, trying one more approach, or spending a little more time with a problem than I originally planned.
Curiosity is what keeps me going when something doesn't make sense. It's the reason I find myself exploring topics far beyond what I need to know at the moment. Sometimes that curiosity leads me down unexpected paths, from learning a new programming language to understanding concepts I initially found intimidating. Other times, it simply helps me see familiar problems from a different perspective.
I have come to appreciate that curiosity doesn't require expertise. It only requires a willingness to admit that there is something I don't know yet. In many ways, some of my most meaningful learning experiences have started with confusion rather than confidence.
Looking back, the moments that have shaped me most weren't the ones where I felt talented. They were the moments when I was curious enough to keep going despite not having the answers. That curiosity has opened doors, introduced me to new ideas, and given me the confidence to tackle things that once felt out of reach.
Kuwa wa kwanza kushiriki mawazo yako!