In 2019, during my National Youth Service program, I made a bold decision—I was going to dedicate the entire year to learning how to code. Creating and building things had always fascinated me, but during my university years, I never had the time or resources to fully explore this passion. Now, with a year ahead of me, I set out to immerse myself in Android app development. As side projects, I also dabbled in logo design and 3D animation, eager to expand my creative skill set.

My plan was simple: build on the knowledge I had gained as a member of the Google Developer Group in my university and use it to create Android apps. At the same time, I wanted to experiment with 3D animation to bring my ideas to life. Everything was going smoothly—until it wasn’t.

Halfway through my learning journey, disaster struck. One fateful day, I attempted to run Android Studio alongside Autodesk Maya. My laptop, unable to handle the strain, overheated, and my motherboard crashed. Although I managed to get it repaired, my system was never the same. The performance dropped significantly, making it impossible to run the resource-intensive tools I had been using.

With my original plans derailed, I began to worry about staying relevant in the tech space. That’s when a friend introduced me to Figma. He described it as a tool that blended design with functionality for app creation. Since my goal had always been to build apps, I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot.

At first, I was overwhelmed. Figma was unfamiliar, and I struggled to get comfortable with it. Frustrated, I stepped away. But something about it felt familiar. After some time, I gave it another chance, and that’s when it clicked. Having experience with Adobe Illustrator, I started noticing similarities, which made the learning curve easier to navigate.

With time, patience, and consistent practice, I began creating designs that I was genuinely proud of. What started as a mere workaround turned into a true passion. Looking back, I’m grateful for the unexpected twists in my journey. The setbacks pushed me to explore new tools and ultimately shaped me into the designer I am today.

Sometimes, a failed motherboard is just the nudge you need to discover a better way forward.