I started freelancing on WordPress sites back in 2020 — domain setup, theme customization, the occasional custom plugin when a client's requirements outgrew what a plugin marketplace could offer. It paid the bills and taught me how real client work differs from tutorials: nobody cares about your tech stack, they care about whether the contact form reaches their inbox.
Somewhere along the way I kept hitting the edges of what WordPress could comfortably do, and I started reaching for React and Node.js for anything that needed real interactivity or a custom API. That curiosity is what eventually led me to Online Saathi and to enrolling in the Software Engineering program at NavGurukul.
The WordPress years weren't wasted time. They taught me to talk to non-technical clients, scope a project realistically, and ship something that works rather than something that's theoretically perfect. Those skills matter just as much on a React codebase as they did on a WordPress site.