CopenhagenContext 2015

In this personal experience report I want to discuss the key factors that have enabled me to enter the testing field, become part of the testing community, and offer some insights about what you can learn from my journey.

Key points for discussion:
• The strange seed, hopefully not nipped at the bud. Most of the time I’ve been in the testing community I’ve felt like a strange seed, a different species. Considering my background it’s not a wonder. Then again there’s the good and the bad that comes with such a difference, and there’s the energy spent on trying to figure out if and how I should fit in. The community has boosted me but has scared the heck out of me as well, and I’ve learned to deal with both. I’ve dealt with trying to find my own path as compared to following that of others. This is something that a lot of new testers in the community may be facing. Embrace it or suppress it - that's the question.
• Notes from my journey. What are the things I’ve learned? How I got really lost while trying to figure out what to learn and what not to learn. How I coped with playing “catch-up” in developing testing skills while learning on the job, and how I found my way again. Dealing with challenges from the outside by other people and from the inside by my own beliefs. How people in the testing community have engaged and influenced me, and how it worked out for me. Making sense of my place in the community, and tapping into my “previous life” as a language major to contribute to the field of testing secretly wondering where it can take me.