Pull Quote: I've loved seeing how the WordPress community has become more kid friendly.

Growing Up With WordPress

Hey gang, I’m Sophia DeRosia, I’m 14 years old, I’m homeschooled, and I’m here to tell you my WordPress story.

I grew up with WordPress. My entire life my dad, Topher DeRosia, worked with WordPress. At one point a couple years ago he tried to convince me to create a blog, and I had originally said no, but maybe a year or two later Erin Go Blog was born and I started my long journey with WordPress.

My first WordCamp was in Grand Rapids and my family had decided to help out with it. It was awesome, we did that twice and attended once. I believe my first WordCamp that I attended was actually in Chicago which was also, yes, awesome. I met a lot of great people there, they all made me feel welcome even though I was only eleven or twelve at the time.

I have NEVER felt like people in WordPress talk down to me or think of me as a five year old just because I’m a kid.

Last night my mom was asking me some questions for this essay and one of them was “How has WordPress changed you?” And that one took me a minute to answer. I didn’t really know how WordPress itself had changed me, but then I thought about the people I had met, those who have taught me, and the support I’ve always felt. It was the WordPress community that really changed me.

Being a kid in WordPress has definitely benefited me. Being around adults so much I’ve learned how to talk to them, I’m not afraid to talk to adults or ask for help, and I’ve made some awesome friends that I know I can count on. I also have some really good job options, whether it’s designer, developer, or business. Having my own blog has helped me with writing as well. I may not have a deep passion for it but I certainly like it and may not have known that if I hadn’t had a blog.

I’ve loved seeing how the WordPress community has become more kid friendly. It’s a safe, fun environment for kids and it’s only becoming more so. I’ve loved seeing how WordPress has grown and changed over the years I’ve been using it. So to parents out there who have kids that may be a designer, developer, or business aficionado I recommend WordPress.

WordPress is a fun, easy way to open your kids up to many options for their future.

And to the kids out there who are interested in WordPress, WordCamps aren’t the only way to learn it. All over the world they have meetups where you can ask questions and meet some cool people, and there are countless other ways to learn it.

If you think WordPress may be the way you want to go then try it. You don’t have to stick with it but at least try it, I guarantee you will make some great friends like I have and learn lots.

Have fun on your adventure!

17 Comments

  1. @Sophia

    Glad to see your story here. I always wondered how next (younger) generation feels about WordPress! ?

    The part I liked most from your story is…

    Being around adults so much I’ve learned how to talk to them, I’m not afraid to talk to adults or ask for help

    My wife and I both are introverts and find it hard to talk to new people. I sometimes worry that my son might face a similar issue growing up. So I keep thinking about solutions for him.

    I guess, mixing him with adults at WordCamp might be a good idea! So thanks for this. ?

  2. Wow, nice post! Can’t help but think if only I’d started with WordPress at your age… ;)

    WordPress really can open up so many new opportunities and ways of thinking!

    Best of luck in your (presumably very bright) future. Stick with it. :)

  3. It’s pretty awesome to become a part of the WordPress community at your age and grow with it, I kinda envy you :)

    The community is on the right course, and people like you will take it to the next level.

  4. You are absolutely right Sophia! WordPress is amazing! And I had never even heard of WordCamp before I read this post. I had to google it to find out what it is! :D I am quite shocked to know that it is also held in my city, Mumbai.

    Hope you keep on achieving progress in your blogging journey. :)

    Thank you.

  5. Wow, I didn’t even know about blogging at your age.
    And I totally agree on your quote “WordPress is a fun, easy way to open your kids up to many options for their future”.

    Regards,

    Shafi Khan

  6. I was installing WordPress for the first time 6 years ago, and I feel happy. Now I use this platform to build any kind of sites. WordPress is awesome!

  7. Great Sophia! I pondered what to do about my daughter, Julia…
    ‘I want to make a blog’ she says ‘about baking’. She’s 12. She threw a whole bunch of platform names at me, most of which I’d never heard of (I’m 48 lol!) and she pleaded to use this or that one. ‘But then I can’t help you’ I said. If you are serious, start with wordpress, because you’ll end up with it one day anyway…

    So we started off with a wordpress.com account, but already she’s like…
    ‘why can’t I change the colours of the balloons in the background again daddy?’. Because it’s a ‘fixed’ part of the theme’ I say.
    ‘Hmm’ she said ‘but so and so has what she wants on her blog’.
    ‘I know’ I replied ‘but Zoella also has a team of developers behind her working on her own theme’.
    ‘Why can’t I have my own theme’ she says.
    And so the journey into WordPress.org begins…. :-)

    Good luck with all your endeavours Sophia, on and offline,
    Thanks for your story :-)

  8. Hi Sophia,

    This is inspiring, I guess I’ll have to get my daughters involved too with WordPress at an early stage :)

    Kudos to your dad Topher! keep up the good job in inspiring people

  9. Hi Sophia,

    I wish if I would have started learning WordPress at your age.
    With you, there is an advantage that your father was working with WordPress and your can learn from him but when I had started no one was there to help me out.
    I have learned the WordPress the hard way and still learning.
    A way to go. Best of luck.

    -Tauseef

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