#36 Where do you belong

How do you identify yourself? Are you a React dev, enterprise dev, SharePoint dev, Teams dev, architect, Microsoft 365 consultant, admin, full-stack dev?

Often, we’re hesitant about getting labeled. After all, we’re more than “just a dev” or “just an admin”. We’re a whole person. But the way we identify ourselves says something about our belonging. Our tribe, we feel we’re a part of, and we feel about like “our people”. It’s where we hang out, where we go ask for help, and from whom we learn. It can also say something about where we’d like to belong.

While I use React occasionally, I don’t identify myself as a React dev. I spend a significant amount of time working on CLI for Microsoft 365 which is built in Node, and yet I wouldn’t say I’m a Node dev or a TypeScript dev. I know my way around storage, APIs, and front-end frameworks, but I wouldn’t call myself a full-stack dev. I use all these technologies but these are not my tribes.

Professionally, in no particular order, I’m a part of the Microsoft 365 community, CLI for Microsoft 365 maintainer, Cloud Developer Advocate, Microsoft employee, developer. I build things and I try to help others build things. This is how I tick and where I belong.

What about you? Where do you belong? What are your tribes?

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash