When it comes to having real passion about something, I can assure you by experience… you’ll become like a bull. No amount of obstacles in your way will ever stop you from doing what you’re doing. If you don’t have that effect, it might not be real passion.
That’s exactly what I experienced.
This blog post will take you through how I became a PHP and React developer at age 15. I hope this inspires someone.
The initial phase
I want to start by saying that none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for my dad. He exposed me to technology and basic computer functionality already at age 3.
I remember sitting down on my dad’s lap and watching my dad operate on the computer, essentially downloading, copying/cutting, saving files, and creating basic folders. All this made me immediately understand the power of PCs.
At the time, I wanted to be someone who helped people in general. I thought of being a nurse, but then asked myself how nurses and doctors operate without software.
I didn’t have an answer to that doubt, so I ended up learning how computers work, how to create files, folders, and everything my dad made me watch while sitting on his lap.
During these years, my dad also started teaching me where data is stored, the RAM, ROM, etc. I later used this knowledge to my advantage.
Fast forward a few years. At age 5 I already had a solid foundation of computer basics and started messing with basic Windows terminal commands: dir /w, cd…
One year later, using what my dad taught me about RAM, ROM and hard disks, I managed to perform a clean install Windows 10 on a computer my aunt gave me. This is what inspired me the most to continue. I felt like I couldn’t go back anymore.
Discovering development
When I was around 8 or 9, I started making my own applications in Visual Studio 2019 by watching tutorials. I even managed to make a replica of an operating system!
The more software I coded, the more it inspired me to discover programming. I remember being so motivated I attempted to create my own OS with Assembly, but obviously, I got stuck at filesystems and GUI, and eventually I gave up.
So, at the age of 11, I created my website, where I would write about my life and how everything started, thinking it would be beautiful to read as an adult. I still write that page today, but I also keep my blog active by writing about tech news occasionally.
As I made my website, I got into development more and more. Lucky for me, my dad came in clutch again because he taught me about HTML, its structure, and some of its tags! Pair that with the simplicity of WordPress and CSS, the result is that I found web development the easiest way to start with development and it suddenly became my niche.
At this point, I could make static websites using HTML and CSS. Again, I felt incredibly motivated and optimistic about the potential I had with web development.
During this time, I was also managing my YouTube channel, which got banned in 2025. Unfortunately YouTube has never given me a reason why they banned it. Even after everything I built, this made me depressed and destroyed my self esteem for over a year.
Imagine creating a community on YouTube, almost reaching 1000 subscribers, just to get banned in the snap of a finger. Besides, my YouTube channel already got banned in the past. Read more about it here.
So, I re-created my channel but I will never upload as much. YouTube has lost me after these years followed by bans.
The start of a new era: SodiumNodes
Anyway, none of this ever stopped me. When I was 14, in 2025, I created a business called SodiumNodes, where I sell game servers to this day.
With the success I got, videos hitting over 100,000 views on my new channel, and the fact of getting actual money, all motivated me to continue the business.
In the meantime, I created some projects using PHP.
WebTools, a self-hosted tool to manage player bans and ranks by just filling in forms, with the intent of not having to go through hassle of entering the server or typing long commands in the console.
Eupla Website, a website for a Minecraft server. It included a login system and you could see your statistics (kills, wins, deaths, money, etc.) directly in the website. I created it so players don’t have to painstakingly enter the game and type commands all the time.
PocketUtils, a fork of PocketMine Genisys to prevent SecureOP clients by requiring a password before granting OP permissions.
Some PocketMine plugins like a login system that uses MySQL and email verification, minigames like TNTTag, and a profile system. They’re all safe and sound on my GitHub.
I created all these projects essentially for practice, and it’s safe to say it paid off.
I later experimented with frameworks like Next.js and Laravel, and that helped me gain experience for the web development SodiumNodes required.
Then finally, after trial and error, SEO enhancements and LD+JSON schemas, Next.js component bugs and patches, several painstaking attempts at creating pages, I finally got it right. This is where I am today.
Now I have the required knowledge a junior full-stack web developer and SEO manager combined together should have.
I hope my story inspired someone, and if there’s something to learn from this, I would say it’s to never give up on your dreams. It took me over 10 years to become what I am today. Who knows if it’ll take another 10 to consolidate everything I’ve learned?