About

What is this blog?

This blog, atypicaldeveloper.com is meant to be read in two ways:

A typical developer
Atypical developer

This duality may seem like a contradiction at first, like a mistake any one of us might make when we forget to add a white space in code. However, the meaning behind the name invites us to look a little further than that.

This is a metaphor for us in the tech industry. An industry filled with ego and imposter syndrome. Our industry pushes us towards this path, where we all see ourselves as better than our peers for one reason or another… The reality is we are all more average than we like to think… that’s just how averages work. But being average doesn’t mean that we can’t be unique and find success.

This blog’s focus is about staying humble and introspective. I’m just an average person in the tech industry after all. I’m not some unicorn or a star software developer. I’m simply a typical developer navigating this world. I feel that being honest with ourselves is the best way to deal with imposter syndrome and grow in both life and our careers. I want to recognize what makes us special, unique and “atypical” while staying grounded.

I hope that you can come along in my journey!

Who am I?

I have two names, “River”, which you can call me by, and “易涵” (yihan) which is my name in Chinese. I’m a very average human. I was born in 2002 in the beautiful northern Chinese province of 黑龙江 (heilongjiang), and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was just 2 years old. Nowadays, I’m an average software developer.

I never went to a fancy school, or even did exceptionally well in school. I didn’t found any cool clubs, or complete any fancy projects in school. I always looked up to people who did and wished I could do the same. My self doubt was strong during this time, and I felt like an imposter every day. Through a lot of introspection and self development, I learned and accepted my averageness. Nowadays I feel pretty comfortable being average.

I constantly seek lessons from both ancient and modern spiritual texts and apply them in my life. I’m always searching for opportunities to have meaningful experiences that satisfy my nerd-dom and curiosity! This blog is meant to share these experiences with you and in doing so, making them more meaningful along the way.